What's a Vigilante Without a Mask?
by The Marvel Encyclopedia
Summary: It starts out innocently enough, she just wants to know what it feels like under the weight of a mask. But with lurking terrors and potential threats, Felicity Smoak will have to join her fellow Team Arrow members (including a certain alluring Oliver Queen) behind the shield of disguise, despite being stuck to her desk. The occasional flashback. Rated M for Sex and mentions of rape
1. The Mask

The empty sound of clicking on several keyboards was the most prominent sound radiating through the foundry on the warm autumn night, with the exception of the occasional word from the communication device situated in Felicity Smoak's ear, it was in fact the only noise being made.

Felicity's actions were frantic, having to solely direct and guide not only Oliver Queen as he paraded as the hooded vigilante; 'the arrow' but both Sara Lance and John Diggle also, as they spent their time tracking down the most corrupt criminals in Starling City and bringing about justice.

They were working separately, Felicity being their only connection to each other. She watched them from surveillance cameras on street corners as she continued to tap at her keyboard, hacking into the Starling City Police Department's radio signal with gratifying ease. Sara, only looking like a mass of black leather and blonde hair, was kicking the crap out of a low-life bank thief, not bothering to let him explain himself as she knocked him out with what Felicity liked to call her 'metal sticks of doom.' She didn't need Felicity right now, in fact she rarely did. Sara had this exception skill of beating up criminals without truly knowing what they had done, she didn't need a background check or leverage tactic, she was a loose cannon in the best way possible, and Felicity loved her all the same.

Felicity diverted her attention to Oliver, clad in green like he was so often and riding his pitch black motorcycle at a speed that would frighten the life out of the hacking blonde. She could hear him breathing deeply to remain in control of his anger as he raced after the criminal only two cars length ahead of him, on a motorcycle of his own. Felicity ran the plate of the red bike, learning everything possible about its owner, a certain Bruce Rossetti, wanted on three counts of rape, all girls Thea's age. She had to give the rapist some credit, he was wickedly fast on a motorcycle, but not fast enough, Oliver was catching him up, albeit it slowly, but catching him all the same.

An alert popped up on the furthest left screen of the three perched on her workspace, a robbery down at Star Labs that SCPD had been made aware of. Felicity noted that the police were never going to catch the truck full of experimental drugs, they were too far away and the vehicle was terrifyingly fast. But she knew someone closer to them. "John," she spoke into the air, her voice filling the almost silence of Team Arrow's top secret lair, "truck full of stolen experimental drugs heading your way, their taking the bridge."

"On it," she heard him speak back through her earpiece as he left his surveillance spot, his car roaring to life as Sara jumped in, finished with her low-life. Felicity took this as opportunity to send an anonymous alert to Quentin Lance, telling him when and where to pick up the victim to Sara's ever-present rage, she then hacked into Digg's GPS, allowing him to view where they were in relation to their target.

Silence resumed again, the sound of Digg's big ass car speeding along main roads and the contrast of Oliver's speedy bike speeding through alleys cutting through Felicity's ear and she knew she would fall victim to one of the killer headaches she always seemed to have after a long night helping her precious vigilante-turned-hero family.

And what a family they were. Digg was like an older, wiser and over-protective brother to her, Sara like a big sister that you both envy and empathise with and they got on rather well all things considered. Sara had begun to teach Felicity some self-defence on the sly, not letting Oliver know that she wanted to help in other ways than stuck behind her desk, both all day and night. He was adamant she should not learn how to handle herself, not because he wanted her to fall prey to a psychopath, but because he wanted more than anything to keep her safe. And if he didn't have the excuse that she didn't know how to handle herself, how would he then save her from potential threatening situations and keep her hidden behind a computer screen. He cared too much to let her out from behind her constricting desk, and she both loved and hated him for it.

Then there was Roy, like a younger brother to the blonde, she felt a certain depth of care was owed to him, something she was glad to give, lending him both a loving embrace and her spare bedroom. He was just as protective as Diggle was over her, though when she and Oliver first got together, the elder of the men was slightly more vocal with threats to the green-clad man of what would happen if he were to hurt her in any way, shape or form.

Oliver. Just the thought of him made her legs go weak as she was graced with blinding flashes of what they've done on this very desk, and her work desk, his work desk, his bed, her bed, her couch, the training mats, the cot, the sofa and everywhere in between. It had been nine months of complete bliss if she were honest. Oliver was both kind and firm with her, picking fights and battling against her while simultaneously looking out for her welfare. He was the perfect gentleman around the clock yet still had all the passion of a primitive being by night. He was perfect for her and her for him.

She knew just what buttons to press to get him riled, exactly what to say to calm him down, heck; she even knew just how to prep him for the strenuous task of saving their city. Oliver knew that without her he couldn't function properly. Since the island, every girl before her was just a desperate attempt to feel something other than rage or vengefulness. He was darkness, Lian Yu taught him that much. On some days he became so consumed by the black inside of him that he became less than human, an almost primeval being. But then there she would stand, with a bright dress, a warm smile and an understanding gaze, it was in those moments that he realised just how dark he was, and just how light she was. They were the perfect contradiction, and neither would want it any other way.

Felicity was brought out of both her not to PG rated thoughts and unstoppable force of typing by the alert on her phone, a warning from Lance that the long-planned task of taking down a drug circle was commencing in half an hour. She looked to the screen to her right, Oliver was catching on the punk, almost on his tail, but she knew that when he caught him, there'd be questions, time consuming questions. And that son of a bitch needed to be taken down.

"Oliver?" She questioned him, turning to hack into the phones of the known drug dealers they were planning to bring to justice, "the deals going down in half an hour."

She heard him grunt down the line, both of them knowing now that he couldn't make it in time, "Where's Sara?"

"With Digg, they're chasing down some experimental drugs, including the new batch of Truth Serum that really shouldn't get into the wrong hands." As she spoke, she clicked away at her keyboard, pulling up the list of missing drugs Star Labs had just finished writing.

"Are they-?" He didn't finish his sentence, instead putting his energy into serving the oncoming lash of bullets his enemy was firing. It didn't matter, Felicity knew what he was going to ask.

"No they won't be done in time, what do you want me to do? The police aren't equipped to handle this one alone."

She could almost hear his contemplation, and when she heard his sigh, she knew what he was going to suggest, "Send Roy."

She clicked their communication onto mute after that, sending a quick text to Roy who was upstairs working. They had a perfectly fine tune nowadays, she would type 'downstairs' to him, and if it were urgent, they had a code word – or words, - 'mint choc chip.'

As she waited for him, noting that her team were all safe for now, she sat back in her chair, trying to calm her nerves. And that's when she noticed the splash of green on the edge of her desk. On a closer inspection she found out just what it was; Oliver's mask.

Felicity clicked back onto her line with Oliver, hearing him wince as she simultaneously saw a bullet skim across his calf muscle, "did you know that you've forgotten your mask?" She asked him almost mockingly, holding the detailed piece of fabric in front of her.

"Shit," the vigilante replied, remembering that he grabbed his helmet instead, not even thinking about what would happen after he caught the rapist he was chasing.

"When you catch him…"

He cut her off instantly, both valuing and avoiding her optimism, "_If_ I catch him."

She corrected his correction of her instantly, "_When_ you catch him, stick in the shadows and I'll loop over any footage that could be enhanced. Although it's going to be a hell of a lot more work for me."

"I'll make it up to you," he insisted, swerving down another alley, hot on the other bike's taillight, "how about a bottle of your favourite red wine?"

She thought for a while, still holding the scrap of green material in her hands, "only if you drink it with me." She replied, a cruel and teasing smile crossing her face.

"Oh I'm counting on that."

The next thing she heard was the shifting of feat and an awkward cough, she turned abruptly and switched the connection to mute in slight embarrassment of what Roy had just walked in on, although he had caught them doing worse, "you said it was mint choc chip," he urged, waving his phone carrying her message as he did.

"It's time to suit up," she spoke to the younger man, "you ready for your first solo mission?"

A sly smile flashed against him, teeth showing as she knew that he was ready for this, he walked over to the cool glass case opposite Oliver's, where his own red 'suit' hung. He grabbed his mask, turning to notice Felicity playing with a green version absentmindedly, "I think you should have your own one of those," he told her, jerking his head towards her hands.

Felicity giggled slightly as he said it, holding the mask closer to her so she could inspect the small rip forming by the eye, "I don't need one like you do."

Roy crossed the space between them, now stood in front of her, only the desk separating them, "maybe you don't need to hide your identity like we do, but you are a vigilante. You've committed a fair amount of crimes for this cause, enough to get you a long prison sentence. And what's a vigilante without a mask?"

She knew the sentence was rhetorical but she had to reply anyway, "a prisoner?"

They shared a smile before Roy started talking again, "put it on."

"I can't," she scoffed, toying with the mask in her hands, "it's Oliver's and I could rip it more, or damage it and I'll just look stupid and what's the point of looking stupid without a hell of a lot of wine in me? Besides, Oliver might not appreciate me even touching it, he got real sketchy this one time 'cause I touched an arrow, I mean sure that was mostly about my safety but you never know what lies beneath the surface and… 3… 2… 1."

Roy looked unmoved by what she had said, most of her words barely registering with him, "shut up and humour me."

Felicity looked from him to the green mask, biting her lower lip in a lost thought. She had always wanted to know what it felt like for the others behind a mask, whether it made them feel less human or indestructible. She desired the knowledge of how anti-law they felt beneath the fabric. And with one final look at Roy, she slipped it on, pulling it around her head and flicking her ponytail out from under the back of the tie.

Roy smiled, pleased with what he saw, "how do you feel?"

"Self-important," she spoke back softly, "in a good way though, like I really am saving this city."

If Oliver were here he'd say something like, 'you are saving this city Felicity, I couldn't do this without you,' but then again, he wasn't here so instead she was returned with an equally as satisfying reply, "well you look hot."

And that's when she left Roy to change and take down the drug circle with Lance's help, simultaneously watching him and Lance, Sara and Digg, and then Oliver as he beat the shit out of a low-life rapist.

It was an hour later when Sara and Digg came on over their communication frequency, letting everyone know they were heading home, Sara not even bothering to change. Roy then spoke up, wanting to stay out for a couple more hours to take down some unimportant jackasses causing trouble every night down in the deepest and darkest area of the Glades. Oliver however, wanted to get back to the Foundry, shake off the anger and kiss his beautiful girlfriend's bright pink lips.

When he returned, the sight was familiar. Felicity was sat as usual at her desk, typing away at her computers trying to wipe any footage of Oliver that could be enhanced, there was nothing unusual until he went up to greet her, silent as ever.

He placed a hand on her shoulder innocently, forgetting just how light on his feet he was and causing her to jump out of her seat, a hand held to her heart as if she needed to hold it in place, "Oh my god, Oliver! Can you at least try and make some sort of noise?"

Her question never quite reached him; he was too distracted by the band of green running across her eyes, something that Felicity herself had forgotten about. Something in his stomach twisted as he took in the sigh of her clad in something so specific to him, he felt a surging urge of possessiveness towards her in that instant, drinking in the welcome sight of her branded with his colour.

Then came the negative thoughts, mindless impulses of her in something so dangerous, something that hid her from the world. This didn't sum up his Felicity; she was bright and unexplainable, too open and honest with her heart on her sleeve. She shouldn't be hidden behind a mask, there was nothing too dark that she had to keep closed, at least nothing he yet knew of.

Oliver quickly put those thoughts to rest, she wasn't in danger right now, she hadn't just risked her life to go out and save the city, he had. He was the darkness, he had the graze of a bullet on his calf, he was the one who wore the mask, at least in front of everyone but her. Oliver didn't need to hide behind anything when he was with her, no matter how many stories he let her in on about his time away, she only ever saw the bright side. He killed Ivo in cold blood, _it was to save him. _He left without his fellow prisoners, _you went back for them. _He's killed time and time again, _and it's taken its toll on you Oliver, you're not a murderer._

It wasn't until she realised what Oliver was staring at that Felicity's hand flew up to the mask, muttering incoherent babbles about forgetting it was there and only meaning to try it on. And it wasn't until she began to lift it off of her head that Oliver's hand clamped around her tiny wrist, holding it in place.

"Leave it on," he spoke huskily, the possessive thoughts returning as he realised that this beautiful, breath-taking and magnificent woman stood before him was his, and he was hers, and he wouldn't want it any other way.

His lips crashed down on her bright pink ones with herculean force, knocking her backwards onto the glass desk, keyboards slamming into one another as he took possession of her thighs, lifting her onto the surface before him. He murmured into her open mouth, breath mixing, and the words were almost masked, "God, I love you Felicity."

Her hands pushed against his chest almost instantaneously, no force being added on her part but Oliver took a step back automatically anyway. He was confused at first, thinking it was shock of what he had said, not that it would've made much sense, he told he the same thing at every moment he could, showering her in different renditions of 'I love you.'

"If you love me, then you love my tech," she began, her eyes conveying just how hard it was for her to keep him at arm's length, "and do you remember what happened last time we did _that _on _this_ desk, two screens and a keyboard broken, it was heart-breaking, and I mean it's not that I don't want to, I do want to, like a lot, and it's always really hot when we do it on a desk, not that it's not hot on a bed or elsewhere 'cause it is, I mean you really know what you're doing, and I've strayed off topic, what were we talking about? Oh yeah, but can we please move somewhere less-"

He cut her off with his lips, pulling her legs around his waist, leaving her to wrap the long, toned limbs tighter, pulling him into her. Their lips parted only so he could place perfectly positioned kisses along her jawline, down her neck and across her collarbone. His hand found its way around to her back, slowly pulling down the zipper of the electric blue dress she had worn to work that day as he walked them over to the cot in the corner of the Foundry.

When he got there, he lay her down gently, pulling the constricting fabric down her torso as he drank in the sight of her frilly, pink and black polka dot underwear, her eyes still lined in green fabric. Felicity was never one for sexy lingerie, and Oliver was surprised at how little that bothered him. Back before the island, if Laurel even stood a chance at keeping him faithful (and she failed many times) she would have to keep him preoccupied with black skimpy lace and kinky tricks. But what he had with Felicity was different; she was more than just the object of his desire. Sure, he appreciated the way her tight work dresses could clinch every detail of her ass as she bent over to pick up a stray document, he thanked every deity known to man when her dress had a fancy keyhole, giving him a distracting view from his office desk, and he had never been so sure of anything when he realised that he lusted over her to no end, but he didn't need all of that. Her brightness alone was enough to send him over the edge.

While distracted in his thoughts, Felicity had managed to rid him of his green hood and black top, struggling to remove the green leather pants, getting even more restricting as he drank in her perfectly pale skin, watching her blush spread down her neck and between her breasts. He was quick to help her with his pants, chasing the blush with his lips as she laced her fingers into his hair.

"I think I should wear your mask more often," Felicity sighed as Oliver's lips trailed down to the top of her panties.

Oliver tore away the material with his teeth in response, simultaneously unhooking her bra and flinging both off in the same direction as her dress, "I think I'm going to have your own made," he spoke into her left thigh, kissing every inch of skin available except in the place she was wanting him most, "how does bright pink sound?" he asked, picturing her in a mask matching the colour of her lips and smiling.

"I would let you dress me in whatever you like if you'd just stop teasing," she replied, fisting his hair in her hands with great force as she moaned, feeling him press a soft kiss between her thighs.

His lips then latched back onto hers, tongues battling for dominance. Without warning, a finger was plunged into the wet depths of her core, a keening moan escaping her lips, "do you like that, Miss Smoak?" He asked, plunging a second finger in and beginning to pump.

She nodded and moaned in response as he hit the one spot he knew drove her crazy, his lips moving to a spot just below her ear that was particularly sensitive. He had memorized every detail of her body, not just the scar on her right shoulder, or the way her hips dimpled and curved, but the exact spot she wanted him, the places that could elicit the most inviting moan from between her plush pink lips. He knew her like he knew himself, like she knew every scar and wound he carried.

His thumb pressed against her clit and a heat pooled in her belly as she ran a hand down his toned chest, wrapping a leg around the back of him and pulling him closer. He felt her meet his hand thrust for thrust and knew from experience how close she was, a pride surged through him knowing he could make such a powerful and independent woman crumble at his touch, the light bleeding on his calf completely forgotten as he watched her come undone beneath him.

It was one final pump of his fingers that left her hand scratching at his chest, the other pulling at his hair as she screamed his name in ecstasy. The sound was music to his ears, loud and consuming. Felicity had always been vocal in bed, but with Oliver it was a whole new level of loud, she lay writhing beneath him and muttered, "damn you, Oliver Queen," not quite meaning it as she caught her breath, leaving Oliver watching her with intense blue eyes.

Felicity didn't let her leg leave Oliver's side, using it to push into him, her signal that she wanted to be on top. Oliver flipped them over with one precise movement, leaving the woman of his desire straddling his hips as he removed her hair from its tie, the mask sitting at an odd angle on her nose.

They both liked it better when she was on top, something Oliver would never had thought he would admit to, but there was just something about the way she stepped up into control, he especially craved the way her blonde hair would fall around his head, enclosing them in together away from the world, there was just something so irresistible about being consumed by the floral scent of her soft tresses.

Felicity took this opportunity to leave a slanted kiss on the throbbing vein in Oliver's neck, eliciting a moan from the vigilante. Her hands then found their usual route down his chest, stopping at his hips as her lips followed behind. She took care to kiss each and every scar, the big ones like where he had been struck by an arrow or impaled by a large knife and the small, dagger and bullet wounds all the same. Oliver liked to watch her as she did this, replacing the memories of how he accustomed the scars with ones of her leaving a pink trail in her wake as she lowered his boxers and threw them off with the rest of their clothing.

He knew where she was heading with this, and as much as he welcomed the thought of her pink lips wrapping around the most intimate part of him, he wanted something else more. Oliver latched his hands onto the top of her arms, using them to pull her up as he spoke, his voice brimming with lust, "later."

She didn't argue, from everything she had heard from his past partners, (Sara and Laurel included) she half expected him to be selfish in bed, magnificent all the same of course, but incredibly selfish. She had never been so wrong in her life, there were some nights when by the time it got to the main event, she had come four times and was writhing beneath him, all as a result of his glorious hands and tongue, she swore he would be the undoing of her. Of course there were also nights when he'd come to her apartment after patrolling, battered and bruised but not caring. He'd sneak in through her window and take her, not giving her the time to even breathe as he took her hard and fast and usually against the wall or door, those were the nights of short-lived bliss, when he wouldn't even take off his hood or speak her name, and he'd never stay to cuddle afterwards.

But most nights, he'd woo her with expensive wine, chat to her about trivial things, take her into her room, lie her on the bed and make everything about her, enjoying watching the way she reacted to his touch, hearing her sigh and moan and scream his name. Then he'd hold her, draw lazy patterns across her back as she'd trace his scars with care, listening intently as each night he'd tell her how he accustomed another of them, each night the stories getting more haunting until she fell asleep in his arms, and woke to the feel of his lips on her bare neck.

But right now, it was somewhere in between, rushed and frantic but loving as she lowered herself onto him, blue eyes catching as they watched each other intently. He thrust up as she did down, soon finding the perfect rhythm for their joined bodies, moving in perfect harmony as if they were made specifically for one another.

Felicity's hands rested on his shoulders, digging her bright orange nails into his flesh. "Oliver," she breathed, making his blue eyes stare at her with only more intensity, she moved a hand to brush it over his lips before his head raised to capture hers in a sloppy kiss. He groaned and the sound vibrated through her, a hand working its way to the back of her head, holding onto her hair like it anchored him to the ground. His other hand clamped on her waist, a grip that was bound to leave a bruise that he would feel guilty for later, Felicity didn't mind though, she liked the little reminders that she was Oliver's, that she was the only one he was leaving his handprints on.

Her breath caught as her walls clenched around him, taking him in further with every thrust, a soft sigh escaping her lips that now travelled back down his neck.

Heat that was coiling in her belly began to explode, sending hot shoots down to her core, she was close, but looking at Oliver, he wasn't far off either. She scraped her nails down his neck, moving to plant a sloppy kiss to the side of his mouth before heading to his ear, "with me baby," she whispered, Oliver knowing exactly what she wanted.

He could feel that she was holding on to her orgasm to the best of her ability, waiting for him to catch up, the thought alone was enough to escalate his pleasure, sending him over the edge with a grunt as Felicity bit down on his shoulder as she followed closely behind. He slammed into her one final time for good measure as she collapsed on top of him, both thoroughly pleasured and exhausted.

Oliver dropped a small kiss to her bare shoulder as he lifted her off of him, placing her on her side next to him, wrapping her in his arms as she intertwined their legs. Felicity sighed, breathing in the smell of him as she fingered a burn mark on his torso.

"Definitely wearing a mask more often," she spoke quietly, not having the energy to raise her voice over a whisper. She tore the mask off of her after that, barely feeling the difference between having the material there and her skin open to the elements.

"I'm definitely having you one made, you'll have to wear it while you hack," Oliver replied, subconsciously drawing a pattern on her bare back.

She giggles as he hits a particularly sensitive part of her lower back and he moves his hand back up, a callused finger running over her only scar, from the bullet she took for Sara, "I'm thinking it has to be pink, maybe with binary over it, I'll have to have my own code name, not anything sexy 'cause I won't be able to pull that off, maybe something more suited to what I do, which is definitely not kick ass…"

Oliver cut her off with the feel of his laughter vibrating through his chest and he placed a kiss to her forehead, she moaned slightly in satisfaction, suddenly finding it hard to keep her eyes open as she notices Oliver's pulled the sheets up to cover them, "sleep baby, we can think about it tomorrow."

She nods into him, muttering "the keyboard," as sleep consumed her.

Oliver smiled, knowing there was no way in hell he was going to let her be branded with such a bland code name, letting sleep take him too in the feeling of pure love and bliss.


	2. The Arrow

**Howdy everyone, I'd just like to point out that I love reviews – love 'em love 'em love 'em – so if you could drop one for me that'd be great! Short or long, good or bad, I'd really appreciate it. Anyways, you're not here to read a monologue of my love for reviews so let us get on with the story, yeah? A little less hanky panky and a little more action in this one (I should also probably tell you that the previous chapter was my first ever smut writing, how do you feel I did?)**

Felicity was doing what she could almost always be caught doing, typing. But right now she wasn't behind her desk at the Foundry, saving the city in the only way she knew how. No, right now she was at work, silently cursing and thanking the gods simultaneously that she was Oliver's Executive Assistant.

At first, she hated it, thinking it would all be getting coffees and taking notes and keeping Oliver in check (the latter she did anyway,) but it wasn't nearly as bad as she had thought. She got to spend all day with Oliver, chewing on her pen lid in the way she knew drove him crazy as he watched her through the glass wall that separated them, desperately wishing it was his cock that her bright pink lips were wrapped around and not the black biro in hand.

The work load wasn't that bad either, she got paid more than she did down in IT and here she didn't have to fiddle under desks while guys checked out her ass as she did. Of course, Oliver did stare at her ass almost all of the time, appreciating both it and her long silky legs, but she didn't mind him doing it, not when she realised that she actually physically drools when he's hanging shirtless off of the salmon ladder.

"Package for Miss Felicity Smoak," the grey-clad delivery guy announced as he ambled towards the woman in question's desk, Felicity slipping out of her thoughts about Oliver's naked torso.

She smiled warmly, standing up behind her desk, "that would be me."

"Sign please."

Felicity did what was asked of her, leaving a neat trace of her signature on the bottom of the portable screen and taking the rectangular package from him, she murmured a thank you as he walked away, leaving her questioning what she had ordered recently. When nothing came to mind, she ripped the package open.

Inside was a black rectangular box, the colour becoming weary at the edges where the paint hasn't quite taken to the treated wood beneath. She took a moment to ogle the box, running a hand along the top where a series of 1's and 0's were carved into the surface, being the genius computer whizz she is, Felicity knew that it was Binary, the language of her people.

"_01001111 – 01001001 – 01001110 – 01001011 - - 01000010 – 01001001 – 01001110 – 01000001 – 01010010 – 01011001"_

She smiled as she read it aloud, "Pink Binary," lifting the lid of the simple box. Inside was a mask, similar in shape to Sara's, with only a thin frame and the same binary engraved around the eye sockets. Unlike everyone else's masks, this one had glass where the eyes should go. Felicity lifted it up to her face to peek through, taking her own glasses off and replacing them with the mask. As if by magic, she could see clearly, the glass obviously matching her prescription and she wondered how in hell Oliver managed to swing that without her help. It was pink in colour, a bright shade that perfectly matched that of her lips and she sighed in complete awe of the sturdy material in her hands, taking note of the way it tied at the back with white ribbon.

"You like it?" A voice asked to her left, jumping her out of her thoughts. She looked to where the voice had come from, drinking up Oliver's beautifully defined body wrapped in his faultlessly fitting suit.

"Oliver, it's…" she didn't know how to finish her sentence, for once unable to speak. She knew how hard it must have been for him, she was well aware of the fact that Oliver didn't like the thought of her hiding behind something, but Roy was right – for once – she was a vigilante like the rest of them, she went behind the law to serve justice. And what was a vigilante without a mask?

She didn't need to know anymore.

Felicity heard a slight laugh radiating from Oliver, something she never got tired of, knowing that only very few could elicit a true smile from him, "I think this is the first time I've ever seen you speechless."

She smiled back at him, "I love it, how could I not? Well I suppose some people wouldn't like it, you know 'cause it's pink, but I like pink, and I like the name too, I never would've thought of 'Pink Binary' it suits me really, and I'm impressed you got the translation right, thank god you did it word by word otherwise it wouldn't have made much sense, and… I'm babbling." She clamped her lips together, satisfied that she caught her outburst before it somehow took a turn for the worst, usually including an innuendo.

"There's my Felicity," Oliver spoke, so much more satisfied when she was babbling to his face, "so is the name okay with you?"

"Pink Binary," She mused, saying it again in a lower tone, trying to sound like Oliver's 'arrow voice' then she said it again like a robot, much to Oliver's surprise, and she spoke it again, and again, until finally, "I love it. In fact, I'm going to line all my hacks from now on with it, so my victims will know it's me."

The next few hours passed smoothly, Oliver having what seemed like several hundred contracts to hand sign and Felicity busy constructing notes, taking every opportunity to open the black box once more and look at the pink mask inside of it.

It wasn't until after lunch that their day took a turn for the worst.

Oliver and Felicity were sat side by side in the conference room, Felicity listening to the head of Applied Science's ideas for a new task force, a joint expedition for designing new technology opposed to just using it. Felicity was intrigued by the idea instantaneously, it made sense for them to broaden their horizons, especially since Oliver only just about got the company back. She wanted to hear more, but that's when she felt it, his hand on her kneecap.

She looked over to her boss – boyfriend – and gave him a warning look, knowing full well what the bored expression on his face had in store for her. Oliver didn't return the look; in fact he barely turned to her to acknowledge his warning. Instead, his large hand with calloused fingertips slowly travelled up the inside of her leg. She squirmed slightly, her head telling her to push his hand off but her body telling her to let him continue his cruel ministrations.

The head of Applied Sciences sat down, letting the spokesman for the IT department have his say, talking what tech they could comprise. Felicity tried desperately to listen, more than intrigued at what her old IT co-worker had to say.

When Oliver's hand found the hem of her skirt, he stopped for a moment. Felicity thought it was over, grateful that she wouldn't be put in the position to choose between technology and Oliver, she'd chose him, she always did, but that didn't mean she'd be happy about it. Boy was she wrong, with no expression whatsoever plastered across his face, Oliver's skilled fingers slid under the purple fabric at her legs, pausing in place to draw patterns on her milky skin.

"…And I'm certain that Miss Smoak would agree at how irreplaceable such technology can be," the IT specialist spoke up, catching Felicity's attention briefly for her to smile and nod in agreement.

Oliver's hands trailed north with excruciating slowness, trying to draw out the experience and see how far he could push the blonde. He heard her cover a moan with a hearty cough, reaching over for her water to try to keep her cool. Oliver noted just how well she was doing until a finger rubbed between her legs, sending a less disguisable moan out of her pretty pink lips.

"Are you okay Miss Smoak?" One of the other men spoke softly, she didn't have the concentration to find out who, she was far too busy feeling the pressure of Oliver's fingers against her aching core.

She nodded, trying to find the correct words through her lack of concentration, "just a headache," she squeaked, earning a small, hidden laugh from Oliver, "please continue."

Oliver knew she didn't mean him, but he took the bait all the same. Watching her bring her glass of water back up to her lips, he leant in as if he wanted to discuss the matter in hand, which she supposed in a way, he did, "oh I will."

Felicity chocked on the liquid in her mouth, spitting some of it back into the glass in pure disbelief that he could be so dedicated to a cause. He slipped the wet fabric to the side, stroking around the area she wanted him most but never quite touching. She pushed forwards on her chair, urging him to stop his meticulous teasing despite where they were.

Oliver looked to the notepad on the table in front of Felicity, she had been taking notes throughout the meeting but now, her biro was stabbing into the page, unmoving. He felt a certain level of pride that he could take her mind off of her favourite subject (excluding that of his abs.)

Felicity was biting into the side of her mouth, drawing blood as she felt Oliver's index finger ease its way slowly between her wet folds. She reminded herself to get him back for this later as well as thanking him for the mask, she guessed she'd do them at the same time. His finger was pulled backwards, to the point where it was almost out, but Felicity didn't feel it thrust back in.

Instead she heard the glass wall behind her desk smash, an arrow flying through the window and landing, perfectly skewering her screen.

Oliver stood up automatically, ready for an attack and Felicity soon left her seat to follow his gaze to her desk, after beginning to form coherent thoughts again of course. "Do you mind if we continue this at a later date, gentleman?" Oliver asked the two men stood the other side of the conference room table.

"Of course," One spoke, neither Felicity nor Oliver truly listening to whoever it was.

Diggle ran into the room moments later, having heard the smash from the floor below and rushing to the rescue. He quickly ushered the two gentlemen out and off of the floor, leaving Oliver and Felicity to head towards the wreckage.

An arrow was shot straight into the middle of the screen and Oliver removed it straight away. It was green, one of his and a yellow post-it note was pierced through, dangling precariously off of the shaft.

Felicity ripped the note off and read it aloud, "I only wish you'd been sat there, Miss Smoak."

Oliver and Felicity shared a look, Diggle running back in moments later and taking the paper from the blonde. He then looked to Oliver, who was holding the arrow close to examine it, "one of yours?"

He only nodded in response.

"What do we do now?" Felicity mused, watching Oliver flick the arrow over and around, avoiding stepping on the smashed glass of the window.

"Foundry," he replied, then looking up to Diggle, "call Roy and Sara, get them to meet us there."

Felicity grabs her purse and box containing her new mask off of her desk and follows Oliver and Diggle into the elevator.

They arrived at the Foundry half an hour later, Roy and Sara both already there and on edge from the very vague description of what happened.

"Is anyone hurt?" Sara asked immediately, not even muttering a 'hello' first.

"No, we're all fine," Diggle assured her in reply.

"Fine?" Oliver called him out, turning to face him at the bottom of the stairs, "someone made a threat to Felicity's life and you think we're fine."

"What?" Roy spoke up next, "Fel, what happened?"

Felicity watched Oliver throw the arrow down on her desk as she sat down there, looking at Roy and Sara who were sweaty on the mats, "one of Oliver's arrows was shot through my window and it landed in my computer screen, the note attached said they wish I were sat there at the time."

"One of Oliver's?" Roy clarified, four nods followed, "how did they get one?"

Oliver moved to stand behind Felicity, a hand on the back of her chair, "I can only think that it'd be one that I've fired into someone, they took it out, cleaned it and used it again."

Sara moved forward, taking the green arrow in her hands, "I can run some tests, see if there's any trace of blood or cleaning supplies on it," she didn't wait for a reply, instead taking it to her microscope.

"I'll scope security cameras in the area, try and figure out where it was shot from," Felicity added, bringing the screens before her to life, "and you owe me a new screen," she then added to Oliver with a pointed finger.

"We'll have plenty of time to shop for one," he replied, watching what she was doing on the screens.

"Not letting me out of your sights?"

"Never."

She sighed and continued typing at the keyboard, about to hack into the security network of a local business when she remembered something, "I almost forgot," she spoke, taking off her glasses and fishing in her bag for the black box. When she found it, she took the pink mask out, placing it over her eyes, letting Oliver tie it at the back underneath her ponytail, "It's time to go into Binary mode," she spoke in a low, gruff voice.

Roy only stared at her, "what the hell was that?"

"That was my Binary voice," she replied, feigning hurt at his comment.

"Don't do that again."

Sara looked up from her microscope as Felicity hacked, "Wait, has Oliver given you a code name?"

Felicity spun around in the chair, giving Sara a good view of her pink mask, "Yup. Pink Binary."

"It's cute, suits you."

They continued on for half an hour, Oliver taking on both Roy and Diggle simultaneously, needing to shake off some well-deserved anger that someone could threaten Felicity, _his_ Felicity. She however was pulling up a blank on the security camera front, turns out the attacker knew how to loop every single camera in the area to show absolutely nothing to do with the window smashing.

Detective Lance had called, and Laurel, the two non-official team members, both asking what was going on and what they could do to help, the answer both of them got was 'nothing."

Sara was the first to find something useful, or more like find nothing. "Guys," she called, gaining full attention as Roy took Oliver's distraction to swipe a leg to his, flooring him in an instant, he got a nod of approval from all other members for this. "This is a brand new arrow, hasn't been in anyone or anything other than the screen, no fingerprints and no substances. It was taken straight from in here and used."

Oliver rose from the ground straight away, racing to where he kept his arrows. From a distance, it looked like they were all there, but he soon saw from close up that one in the middle of the pack was a fake. He took it out, feeling how much lighter it was. Instead of an arrowhead on the end of the wood, was a cardboard triangle, painted green and Oliver would've laughed at not seeing this sooner had it not been so creepy, someone had been down there just to take one arrow. And how did they get down there in the first place?

He ripped the fake head off of the stick, walking over to Felicity and noting that it was folded over. He unfolded the card, taking in the fancy scrawl of writing inside, "Wondering how I got inside?" he read aloud, "I'm already in."

As Oliver spoke the last words, a spark erupted from below Felicity's desk, she bounced back in surprise and Oliver shielded her from the small blast with his own body. She knelt down once the sparks were finished, taking off the back of the computer and pulling out the motherboard and inspecting it, "the motherboard is fried, looks like the CPU fan committed suicide, making the whole system overheat."

"Can you fix it?" Roy asked.

"Yeah, I keep a spare motherboard down here, just in case. Other things might have been damaged consequently though so it may be a while till its up and running again." She spoke, going to get supplies and fix the system, hiding just how freaked this had her.

"Okay," Roy spoke, "So someone's broke in to the Foundry?"

"No." Oliver replied, cutting Sara off as she was about to contradict him, "We've let someone in."

"What?" He asked.

"There's no sign of a break in and nobody's capable of getting past Felicity's security measures without any of us knowing. And then this note, they're already in... They could still be in here now," he paused to look around the room, not wanting to believe that any of these would plot against him and threaten Felicity.

"I don't believe that," Felicity spoke, "I know that none of you would threaten my life, no matter what I had done to potentially piss you off, this is all just a mind game. I mean, Slade found a way in, the Clock King out-hacked me. This doesn't have to be an inside job."

"I don't think we can afford to be that optimistic, Felicity," Sara replied, her eyes settling on Roy accusingly.

He scoffed, hands in his pockets, "Got something to say, Blondie?"

"You're new, you're easily misled and you're impulsive. I'm not saying that you directly threatened Felicity's life, but I wouldn't be surprised if some nut-job psychopath had paid you to switch the arrows and do whatever it is that happened to the computers."

"You think I'm to blame for this?" Roy shouted back, "I wouldn't be surprised if it were you, shifting the blame so quickly."

"Guys!" Diggle shouted to them, "This isn't important right now, we need to come up with a protection plan for Felicity first."

"Well I live with her," Roy interjected first, "I'll keep an eye out at night."

"I sleep with her," Oliver spoke, "so thanks but I've got that covered."

"One of us is always with her at work," Diggle informed Oliver to his knowledge, "and I'll drive her here each evening."

Roy spoke up again next, "I'll stay here with her when you patrol."

"Are you guys talking every second of every day protection?" Sara asked, still sat at her microscope, "'Cause I'll volunteer for the showering and changing watch."

Everyone already knew that although Sara didn't have any feelings towards Felicity in that way, she still thought she was good-looking enough to ogle when it came down to it. But even so, heads turned in her direction when she spoke, including Felicity's who was smiling in flattery.

"You know what Sara," Oliver said, "I appreciate that, but I'll take those shifts too."

"Doesn't anyone care what I think?" Felicity spoke up quietly from her place under her desk, "it is my life that's been threatened after all."

Oliver didn't look convinced, not wanting to hear what she had in store, knowing whatever it was, it could put her in danger. His eyes fixed on hers, a silent pleading to hear her out and he noticed that somewhere along the line she had removed her mask, her glasses now perched on the bridge of her nose. "What do you think, Felicity?" He asked, a silent surrender.

"I agree that you guys should always be watching me but I know what Sara could do," the other woman's head turned at that, questioning Felicity's thoughts, "teach me how to fight. Like proper bad-ass fight, not just defending myself. I think Binary should have her own set of metal sticks of doom, don't you think?"

Felicity may have been speaking to Sara, but she was asking Oliver, she knew how protective he got of her, how he didn't want her in any danger. But she was in danger, no matter whose fault it was, it was danger nonetheless, and she needed to know how to handle herself.

"It will be a lot of hard work, Felicity. I'll push your body to the breaking point and further, but I'm happy to teach you everything I know if that's okay with Oliver."

Oliver thought about it for a moment, he loved her more than anyone and anything and he needed her to be safe. If this were at any other point in time he would tell her no, that knowing how to handle yourself can lead you down a dangerous path, he didn't want her out in the field. Having to make the decision of whether your victim lives or dies, having to do whatever it takes for justice.

But she was in danger, someone wanted her dead and they weren't being graceful about it. Being taught more than just the basic self-defence techniques could save her life if she were ever in the situation when he couldn't get to her in time. He hated to think that he wouldn't be able to save her, maybe letting Sara teach her could prevent him from losing her one day. He couldn't lose her, not now. He needed her like he needed oxygen, he knew that. So if this was what it took to keep her, then so be it.

"Teach her everything you know, I want her able to take me down by the end of it," he told Sara sternly what he wanted, seeing Felicity beam a bright smile in his direction before turning back to her damaged tech. Her smile was so bright, just like it always was, and each time he saw it he felt a little piece of his darkness recede. He couldn't have her lose that smile, so he walked up to Sara and spoke only to her when he said, "no killing, only how to stall until I can get there."

"Ollie, I don't want her to lose that light just as much as you do. I'll make a tame bad-ass out of her."

He nodded curtly and moved over to Diggle, talking almost mutely in his ear, "keep an eye on Roy, just in case."

"I don't think it's him, Oliver." He replied, slightly louder now that Roy had gone to help Felicity, or annoy her, definitely the latter.

"I don't either, but I won't take that risk again, not when it's Felicity's life on the line."

"Again?" Diggle pressed, knowing that in moments like this, when Oliver is reminiscing back to his years away, you had to ask just in case he did want to talk. But demanding answers was never an option, or he'd shut you out for good.

"On Lian Yu, I made an error of judgement on whom to trust, I put my friends in danger because of it."

Diggle wanted to know more, he always wanted to know more, so he pressed further, "and who shouldn't you have trusted?"

"Sara," he replied, lowering his voice again, "When Ivo first captured me, I told her I needed to contact my friends, I had told Ivo that they were dead. She tricked me into giving him the information he needed."

"If she's crossed you before, how to you know it's not her now?"

"If it is, she wouldn't be dumb enough to offer to train Felicity. She's changed since then, and she likes Felicity too."

Diggle nodded along, arms folded, "and how do you know it's not me?"

Oliver smiled, "you know exactly how I feel about Felicity, I highly doubt after everything we've been through that you'd be stupid enough to threaten her. Besides, she's like a sister to you, I know you'd never hurt her."

"Then who switched the arrows?"

"I have no idea," Olive replied, "but you can be damn sure that I'm going to find out."


	3. The Slap

The first thing Felicity became aware of that morning was the warm trickle of sunlight beaming on her face, then she felt his heat engulfing her like his arms were. Her senses were overwhelmed in that moment, almost every inch of her body flush with his. She could smell the familiar scent of leather on his skin and her own perfume that had transferred throughout the night, he consumed her entirely, both his body around her and the way just his scent could send her on a tangent so early in the morning.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," she heard his gruff, sleepy voice covey slowly, not realising that he had been awake for almost an hour now, watching her drool on his bare chest.

"Morning," she replied cutely, moving to lean up on her elbow next to him, "how long have you been awake?"

"Not sure, but I don't mind watching you."

"Creep," she answered half-heartedly, tracing her finger along a long gash in his torso as he sighed in contentment, leaning up to press a soft kiss to her forehead and tucking a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

They lay in silence for a while, thinking over the dramatic events of the day before, until Felicity finally spoke up, "Oliver?" she pried him.

His eyes had been closed but opened as she spoke his name, greeted with a beautiful face laced with worry, "what is it baby?" he asked, the name not sleazy like it so often sounded when other men spoke it. With Oliver, in the light of the early morning, wrapped up in Felicity's pale yellow sheets, it was the most flattering name he could have spoken.

"I'm scared," she admitted, looking straight into his blue orbs as she spoke, "I didn't want everyone to know so I pretended I wasn't but… but what if… what if I don't make it through this?"

She closed her eyes, trying to imprison the tears welling there. "Hey," he spoke softly, holding her head in his hands, forcing her to look at him through blurred vision, "I'm not going to lose you, ever. No one is going to take you from me. I won't let them, do you understand?"

Felicity could only nod in response as his thumb traced the line under her eyes, wiping the hot tears that had fallen, "I haven't been this scared since MIT," she admitted.

"Daniel?" He asked softly, as soft as she fingered his scars, knowing that Daniel was a scar of her own, albeit it invisible to the world.

"Daniel." She confirmed.

_Seven years earlier._

_Felicity was well in her element at MIT, she was acing her classes, sharing an apartment off-campus with her two best friends and finally happy with herself and her capabilities, she was her best version here, and she knew it. _

_It was only a few months into her first year when she met Daniel, he was in the year above her; a charming, handsome and intelligent socialite. She embarrassed herself greatly when she spoke to him the first time, horrifically in fact. _

_The class bell rung loud through the walls of the MIT campus, and the elderly lecturer dismissed his excitable class immediately, hurrying to the teacher's lounge for a much needed aspirin. A certain frizzy blonde haired Felicity Smoak was in this class, skipping out arm-in-arm with the ever so gay Marvin – one of her two roommates – as her other best friend Mel followed behind, not appreciating their chipper mood. _

_They were just out of the door when she heard her name being called, turning and letting go of Marvin's arm, she went towards her caller._

_Daniel stood as handsome as ever before her, he was tall, with dark and perfectly groomed hair, and buff, she never failed to mention that he was buff. "Hey Fel," he spoke calmly, the complete opposite of herself._

"_Hi Dan."_

_He smiled warmly, fiddling with the papers in his hand, "my father wanted me to pass these onto you, he said you were expecting them."_

"_Oh, yeah I was, thanks," she replied, taking the papers from the son of her favourite of all the MIT teachers. She thought that would be it, not thinking that a guy like Daniel Phillips could want to talk to a girl like her, "was that all?" she questioned, not wanting to be the first one to walk away._

"_No, I just wanted to let you know that I read a couple of your papers that my father was looking through. Your ideas of safeguarding and hacking sophisticated databases was evolutionary, way ahead of our time, he didn't lie when he called you a genius."_

"_Thank you." Felicity drank in his casual stance, leant again the wall of the corridor, she decided to mirror him, not realising that she wasn't in fact next to a wall but a door. A not properly closed door at that. She fell through, tumbling and catching herself before she landed on the tiled floor. She turned embarrassed to Daniel who only smiled, the horrible feeling of being mocked surging through her._

"_Well, if you'll excuse me I think I've embarrassed myself in front of you enough for today, not that I care what you think of me, not that I don't value your opinion, I really appreciated your comment on my being a genius, not that I think I'm a genius, that would be big-headed, unless you have good evidence to support it, then it would just be practical. But I really should go before I make a complete fool out of myself, not that I do that a lot, but I guess I do, but I just really like you and I don't want you to think I'm some idiot girl who falls over all the time, which I guess I do a lot of so it would be justifiable to say so, and I've been talking for a really, really, excruciatingly long time so I'm just going to stop, yeah just stop talking in 3, 2, 1."_

_He smiled again, "did you even breathe through that?"_

"_No, I don't think I did," Felicity replied, inwardly cursing her lack of brain-to-mouth filter._

"_I think you're really something, Felicity Smoak, I'd love to find out just what it is about you that I find so intriguing."_

_Felicity's eye widened, "are you asking me to be a scientific study?"_

"_No," Daniel replied instantly, "I think you're really adorable."_

"_My mom calls me a-dork-able, says it suits more, not that I don't appreciate what she's trying to say, I know she's only kidding around but sometimes she just takes it too far, you know? I mean, I shouldn't have said that 'cause I know your mother died when you were three and a half, not that I've done creepy stalker research on you, your dad mentioned it to me, not that I spend loads of my free time with your dad or anything, that would be weird, but my dad left when I was young too, but you probably didn't want to know that and I'm rabbling again so I'm just going to stop. Can we just pretend I didn't say all that? I'm going to start again okay… thank you, I think you're really charming."_

_As she said it, she made the same mistake again of leaning on the door with the faulty handle, falling back into the classroom again. When she returned to stand in front of Daniel again, slamming the door a few times only for it to fly back open and finally settling for it to perch on the latch. _

"_I'd love to take you out for dinner sometime," he wasted no time in asking, fearing the next time she pulled an embarrassing stunt, she wouldn't hold her head high like she did right now._

"_I'd love for you to take me out for dinner sometime."_

"_Tomorrow?" He asked, "I'll pick you up at seven."_

_Felicity nodded in reply, returning the smile he gave her before he walked off past her. She turned to watch him go, regretting how desperate it looked when he turned back to her, "I don't know what your apartment number is," he admitted._

"_Oh, uh… 38-C. It's the third floor, the elevator doesn't work so you'll have to take the stairs, and it's right at the end of the corridor so It's quite a way, keeps me fit. Do you want me to just meet you outside?"_

_He shook his head in reply, "that wouldn't be very charming of me would it now?"_

_She giggled, it had meant to come out cute, with an underlying hint of sexy, something Mel had tried – and failed – to teach her for moments like this. Instead, it sounded like she was some psychopathic maniac that just plotted something utterly evil while hiccupping. She decided to cover it with a casual lean against the wall, and for the third time in five minutes, fell through the door. Thank god Daniel thought she did it on purpose to be funny._

_Things escalated quickly from there. After their first date to an amiable hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant, he explained that he didn't want things to move too fast, not wanting to put any pressure on her, they parted with a goodnight kiss and a promise to do it again sometime._

_Their second date was a lunch-time picnic on campus, leading to a slightly more heated make-out session on the grass outside on the benches, cut short by Felicity seeing Daniel's father from the corner of her eye._

_The third, fourth, fifth date followed the same pattern, each ending in a snog and a kept promise to do it again. By the sixth date, they were ready. They took it slow, only doing it the one time and without many tricks, just good, old-fashioned sex on a bed._

_The second time they had sex, it was against her bedroom wall and halfway through, Marvin shouted at them to keep the noise down from the room next to hers. Felicity was a screamer by nature, she wasn't ashamed. _

_Soon, they had been together for five months, which felt like a lifetime to them. He would stay over every night, kept spare clothes in her wardrobe, she'd go to breakfast in his shirt and they'd shower together before classes started._

_They were a well-oiled machine, until one Friday night._

_All it took was a bad grade on an essay Felicity knew he had worked really hard on for him to be in a bad mood for their date in that hole-in-the-wall Chinese. Then, the waiter messed up his order, Felicity spilt her drink all over his dress pants, she tripped and fell into the road on the way home, grabbing his arm automatically for stability but instead dragging her with him into an April showers, rainwater puddle._

_By the time they got to her apartment, empty from roommates who were out clubbing, he was well and truly annoyed, with her, with himself, and with life itself. _

"_I'm sorry I've been such a downer tonight, Fel. I'm just going to go home," he suggested as he walked her into the front room._

"_Don't be silly," she assured him, running her hands across the lapels of his jacket, "let me make you forget about it."_

_That night, he grabbed her hips a bit harder, bit her neck with more force, and took her hard and fast on the couch. He didn't stay afterwards to cuddle like he always did, he muttered an apology for the way he acted and left her breathless and undone in the front room._

_Things only got worse from there._

_Soon enough, his grip on her hips left bruises, his bite-marks drew blood, he didn't even look at her as he took her harder and faster each time, he never cuddled afterwards, he stopped apologising, he left her not only breathless and undone, but confused and pained on whatever surface he could get her on first._

_Then, when she called him out on it, asked why they didn't even go on dates before sex anymore, the backhanded slap to her milk white face only made matters worse, made her confusion grow, made her questions more complex. But for each time she asked, his punishment would be worse, and soon she was coming to class with a black eye, murmuring that she tripped over a pair of Mel's shoes and fell into the coffee table. Soon, she stopped babbling, stopped eating, stopped being excited to see his handsome face. Soon enough, she started being scared of him._

_They still had sex, arguing both before and after it, him hitting or slapping her before and after he took everything from her, everything including her control._

_It wasn't until she realised that she wasn't a willing partner in their nightly charades, that she realised she was being raped and abused by her own boyfriend, that she had the sense to tell Mel and Marvin. _

_They told her to get out of the relationship, tell him it's over. She did, and he threw his empty beer bottle at her for even contemplating leaving him, saying he'll kill himself if she left, before grabbing her and pulling her into the bedroom. Her cries were louder that night, he knew she didn't want it, want him, but he continued anyway. By the time Marvin ran in and pulled him off of her, it was too late, she'd already hit rock bottom, being used and abused in her own bedroom. From then on, she slept in with Marvin._

_It was Colin Phillips who finally got her out of the mess she was in. He knocked on her apartment door one night, a good-looking middle aged man who had fathered her abuser and lost his wife many years ago. But tonight he looked different; tonight he had a black eye to match her own._

"_Daniel hit me, but I suppose you already guessed that," he spoke to her from across the room, Mel and Marvin giving them almost-privacy from where they stood with their ears pressed against the door separating Mel's bedroom and the sitting room._

"_Is that the first time?" Felicity asked him weakly, confirming his suspicions that his son had in fact been abusing the poor girl for a while. _

"_Yes it is. I'm so sorry it took me so long to figure it out, he's been acting strange for a while, I called him up on it and that's when he hit me. Consequently I pieced together all the bruises you have with all the cracked knuckles he has, I truly am sorry Felicity, and you didn't deserve this. I was rather hoping you would tell me everything he's done, I'm going to the police in the morning, I would very much like you to join me."_

_That's where she broke down in sobs, telling him everything he wanted to know and more. She never saw Daniel again but for the next three months, all she did was flinch at any form of contact and try to scrub the feel of his filthy handprints from her bare skin._

"Daniel was my lowest point," Felicity explained to him, still absentmindedly running a finger along his scars, "I feel weak again, like I did back then. I feel like I'm sinking, drowning even, I'm going to hit the ocean floor soon. I just… Someone wants to kill me… I…"

More tears fell and Oliver wiped them away, "I won't let anyone hurt you, Felicity. And I won't let you hit rock bottom again."

She only nodded and kissed him, wrapped up safe in his arms.

**Sorry it was just a ball of fluff guys but that's just what I felt like today **

**More action and smut in the next chapter.**

**Let me know if you liked the flashback or not? Should I do more? It won't be a regular thing, I'm thinking every other chapter?**


	4. The Case File

**Thanks for all the reviews guys, I really appreciate them and love receiving them, it makes me want to update sooner. So, I started college today so my updates may not be as frequent, or maybe I'll just shorten them? But I will continue, I promise. Hang on in there.**

**Thank you to WinterRain36 for some awesome ideas, a few of which I have included so thanks again for your help!**

**I apologise for the distinct lack of smut, I will make it up to you in the next chapter - promise! Unless you guys prefer the storyline's progression to the sex scenes, then I won't fret about making it dirty. Let me know what you think!**

Oliver's mentioning of Daniel Phillips brought back a whole string of horrible memories for Felicity, all of a time she didn't plan on reliving. She had told Oliver about it one winter night, he had just shared a pretty horrific torture memory with her as they lay by the fire in the Queen's mansion. She felt it only right in that moment to share her own scars with him.

After their little heartfelt conversation on fear, Felicity and Oliver got started with their normal Saturday morning. They showered – together of course – and dressed casually, making their way leisurely to the Foundry for training.

When they stepped onto the premises of Verdant, Thea automatically pulled Oliver away, ranting about some issue with a vodka supplier. He was slow to follow her to help, frantically making excuses that he had to stay with Felicity.

The blonde placed a kiss on his cheek, leaning in to whisper into his ear, "Oliver, I am perfectly capable of walking down a set of stairs without dying."

He still wasn't happy, but he watched her walk away all the same.

When Felicity reached the bottom of the stairs, perfectly intact, she was greeted by the radiating sound of a compact body hitting the blue training mats with a grunt. She soon saw Roy spread out on these mats, sweaty buckets and groaning in pain, "Holy crap, Sara, go easy on a guy will ya?"

"You think an attacker is going to go easy on you? Just because you've been at this all morning doesn't mean you can afford to lower your shield, you must always be on guard, ready for an attack. So no, Roy, I will not go easy on you, not until I am safe in the knowledge that you've got my back out there," the blonde towering over him replied, just as sweaty as the boy.

Roy was the first one of the two vigilantes in the top secret lair to notice Felicity, although she was almost certain that assassin-trained Sara would've heard her heals clicking on the floor. "Hey look, Felicity's here, beat the crap outta her now, please."

"Actually," Felicity spoke uneasily, backing away from the mats slowly, "I just remembered I have other engagements, can we rearrange?"

Sara smiled at her, making the perkier of the blondes refrain from her escape, "I'll go easy on you at first, Felicity. I need to teach you the moves before I get you to use them. So go get changed."

Scared to argue with the assassin, she headed off into the Foundry's bathroom.

Oliver wasn't listening to anything his little sister was saying, not fully at least. He was worried about her along with so many others, Felicity included. Thea had skipped town for a while, in rage and grief and confusion. It wasn't until he managed to salvage the company and therefore his – her – club that she came back, but Oliver feared there was an alternative explanation to her return. In her time away she had become more muscularly toned, he had seen the same transformation in Sara while they were together on the island, it was a gradual process but evident all the same.

But he didn't press her, just glad that she was home for him to keep an eye on. Something he was doing willingly.

It wasn't until he heard an alternative female call his name that he left Thea to her own devices, walking down the stairs from the stock room out to the dance floor.

"Laurel," he greeted the smiling brunette he once loved.

And it was true, he had loved her. He had never loved Sara, neither before nor after the island, every time they got together it was a desperate attempt to feel something, for both of them. Laurel was different; the old Oliver loved her, not enough to be faithful but he did. She was the one thing that kept him alive through the island, his reason to survive, and at first it was true.

He needed to survive to apologise to her, for cheating, for causing what he thought at the time was Sara's death, for everything. He needed to get home to her. But after a while, that stopped. Everything he did was to survive but it wasn't for her, he still looked at her picture every night, reassuring himself that she was real, that he had loved her, that she had loved him, to reassure him that he wasn't a murderer, a monster, a maniac, he was a survivor. And soon, everything he did he put down to doing for her, but that wasn't the case anymore.

When he returned home, they had both changed, she wasn't made for Oliver, she loved Ollie, and maybe they could have been happy together if he hadn't had left for five years, but he had. For the next year, he convinced himself that he still loved her, that the old Ollie was still inside of him somewhere, that he hadn't succumbed to the darkness. But he was too far gone, he _was_ the darkness. And soon, there was only one woman in the world that could shed some light on his existence, and it wasn't Laurel, or Sara, or Helena.

"Can I help you, Laurel?" Oliver asked politely, moving to stand in front of the brunette.

"Ollie," she returned, flicking through the folder in her hands, Oliver would never tell her – or Sara and Thea – that he hated being called Ollie, that wasn't him anymore, it wasn't so bad with Sara though, she knew he wasn't that kid anymore, it was her who needed to latch on to the past to convince herself that she wasn't a cold-blooded murderer, and calling him Ollie helped her with that, "I need to just figure out what angle to sell that Ray Paulo case your alter ego flicked my way, thought you and Felicity might be able to help dig up some extra dirt on him."

She turned each page at a time, trying to find the right case. But Oliver caught something that caught his eye far more, "turn backwards," he ordered her abruptly.

"Ollie, most of this is confidential, I…"

He cut her off sharply with a demand, "I said turn backwards, Laurel."

She did so obediently, flicking back one page, two, three, four, five, "stop." He spoke and she did, landing on a note page for one of her previous trials, "what is this?"

"Oh that one's just a favour for a friend, do you remember Mrs Leeds, our old high school English teacher? Well it's her nephew, he appealed for a shorter sentence, but he got convicted years ago, I helped him get it anyway. Why, what's the problem?"

Oliver wasn't listening to her reply, his gut was twisting and his eyes filled with disgust as he read the name of the criminal, _"Daniel Phillips."_

"He's in starling?" Oliver snarled at the assistant district attorney before him.

"Yeah, he was transferred to Iron Heights when they rebuilt it after the quake, he wasn't in the good books of many of his prison mates where he was previously. Have you met him before?"

"No, and he better wish that I never do."

Felicity landed on the mats with a thud and a whimper, feeling the bruise on her hip already forming and becoming tender, Sara stood over her cockily, throwing the bamboo stick she held between her two hands. "I think that's enough on defence today, let's talk attacking," the assassin spoke, helping the gym clothed clad Felicity Smoak back onto her feet.

"Oliver tells me you have an almost eidetic memory, I can put that to good use. Will you remember the moves as I teach you?"

"Easily," Felicity replied, not as chipper as she usually found herself, rubbing a sore spot on the top of her leg.

"Good, so we'll just have to work on your muscle memory, that'll just be a lot of practise. Now had you thought about a weapon?"

Felicity shifted her weight between her feet like Sara taught her, to stop her muscles seizing up, fearing this session wasn't yet over. "Not really no, I thought you might have an idea."

"I do," Sara replied, walking away to the edge of the mats and pulling a brown box from under the table there, "I had them custom made as soon as Oliver came to me with mask ideas, I figured it was only a matter of time before you would want them."

Felicity opened the box slowly, revealing two pink shafts with a chain connecting them to each other. Running down each stick was the Binary translation of her vigilante name. She lifted them, seeing one had a black band around the bottom, she had expected them to be hard and heavy, but she soon recognised the material as wood that had been painted in her shade of pink. The chain was short between them, but heavier than both the sticks.

"Nunchaku, or as they are more commonly known as, nunchucks, they're a traditional Okinawin martial arts weapon. They are carved from oak and submerged in mud for several years, where lack of oxygen would cause them to harden. Yours are glow in the dark, I painted them myself to assure so, and I guess Oliver forgot to tell you that your mask is too. The stick with the band is the one you hold, it's called a 'yang stick' and you strike with the 'dragon stick.' I never got on with them but I think you will, it would be very hard for you to kill with these but you could easily knock someone out, and they look good with all the tricks. What do you think?"

Felicity discarded the box, placing the holding stick in her palm and getting a good grip on it, feeling the other piece of wood fall perpendicular to the floor, the chain holding them together, "it's perfect. Teach me to use it."

And that's what they spent that afternoon doing.

Oliver came in shortly after Felicity was presented with the nunchaku, watching them train from her desk with a distant gaze. Felicity knew something was on his mind, and she had a feeling she didn't want to know exactly what.

By the time Felicity fell to the ground in exhaustion, Sara was pleased at how well she had done. They already had the basics down, after being taught some tricks and with practise, she'd be an expert. In fact, Sara was extremely surprised by how fast she'd picked it up. Felicity felt pretty great about it too.

Then, the currently turned off screens on Felicity's desk sprang to life, a surreal yellow light beaming from them and the two girls ran towards Oliver. And almost instantaneously, words began to print themselves along the three screens, running horizontally across them all.

"I SWORE TO GOD I WOULD KILL YOU, AND I WILL."

After reading them, everything became clear to Felicity, and she collapsed into Oliver with horrendous sobs, remembering just why the words registered.

_Seven years earlier…_

_The pencil skirt the young Felicity Smoak wore was cutting off the circulation to her thighs, her blouse's collar too tight on her neck and her lungs too small for the amount of air she wanted to breathe in from the courtroom's atmosphere._

_The verdict was about to be spoken, determining just how she would live the rest of her days; in the fear of Daniel's rage, or in the safe knowledge that he was behind bars. Either way, as soon as she finished her degree, she was out of there, applying for jobs at as many billion dollar companies she could find, the top of her list being Wayne Enterprises and Queen Consolidated, she didn't care whether she was in Gotham or Starling, as long as it was far away from Daniel._

_He ended up with ten years, without the chance for early release for good behaviour, she was relieved to say the least, so relieved that she hugged the spokeswoman, getting unfortunately close to Daniel Phillips._

"_This is ridiculous! That bitch deserved it! Let me go!" The guards restricted him as he spat more hurtful comments towards Felicity, not before adding, "I swear to God I'll kill you for being such a kiss-ass snitch, Felicity Megan Smoak, I swear to God I will!"_


	5. The Faint

**Okay so with just starting college and all, I haven't had change to go through and check for mistakes so I hope there aren't any and if there are, that you can still understand what I had meant.**

**DROP A REVIEW PEOPLES!**

She was sore and tired – exhausted even – and all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry, it hurt everywhere, the agony of working herself too hard, pushing past the boundaries of her known limits, she now knew what Oliver suffered every moment of his time away.

Utter fatigue.

It had been six hours since Sara awarded Felicity with the glow in the dark pink nunchaku, all six of these hours spent practicing without break. She could feel Oliver watching her like a hawk as she learnt, feeling his gaze burn a hole in her mind. Every so often his hand would slam down on her desk as he thought of something torturous, every now and again he'd start to shake and struggle for breath in anger, but Felicity knew better than to crowd around him, especially with Sara here too.

"Tell me what's wrong," a sweaty Felicity Smoak demanded from the training mats the second Sara left the foundry for her weekly Lance family dinner at Laurel's, cutting their training to what she had implied was 'short.'

Oliver sighed, internally debating the possibility of successful lying to his IT girl, he knew damn well that he wouldn't succeed, so half-truths it would have to be, "it's nothing, I'm just worried about you."

She knew this wasn't a lie, of course it wasn't, but she also knew it wasn't the whole truth. Along with this, Felicity also knew Oliver better than she knew herself, he'd tell her eventually, when he's ready, or when he thinks she's ready. Pushing him would only put more distance between them. And she was keeping secrets too, this situation had her utterly freaked out as she remembered Daniel's promise to her. _But that's impossible right? _She had to keep reminding herself. _He's in prison._

"What's wrong with you?" He shot back at her, making himself comfy in her desk chair.

When her heart rate finally got back to normal from her training and she could finally breathe again, she walked towards where he sat, sitting atop him so she was straddling his waist, "You know this whole situation just has me filled to the brim with worry and fright, I think I need to take my mind off of it," she spoke, wriggling in his lap.

"Oh, really?" Oliver asked, latching his hands onto her waist, "I think I can help with that," as he spoke, he lowered his lips to her neck, speaking the final words into the skin there, his breathe ghosting over her. Then, he pressed the shortest of kisses below her ear, before moving down slightly and kissing her again.

"Nu-uh," she spoke, pushing him back from her neck, "Allow me."

She doesn't know where she finds the energy from, a moment ago she was short of breath and in fear of her heart leaping from her chest after her workout, but she manages to slide off of him, kneeling before him on the floor.

Before Oliver could form any sort of explanation in his mind at what she was doing, long nifty fingers made work at pulling his belt from around his waist, throwing it behind her before they moved to his zipper. All Oliver could do was watch her, slightly disappointed with the situation. Every time he imagined this – and there had been many times, in many unfortunate circumstances – she had been pink-lipped, though he had a feeling that once her lipstick-less lips started to work their magic, he wouldn't give a rat's ass.

He bucked his hips to let her slide both his jeans and boxers down simultaneously, letting them pool at his ankles. As if only to torture him, she let her tongue slide across her lower lip and back into her mouth as he thought in great detail about what those exact lips were about to do to both his body and his state of mind.

His cock sprang forward and she lowered her head to meet it, her tongue flicking back and forth the underside of it. He struggled to refrain himself, feeling a burning sensation crawl through him as she hit a particularly sensitive spot where the shaft and the head met, body shivering.

A moment later, her mouth submerged his tip and in a torturously slow manner, she took him in bit by bit until he hit the back of her throat. Oliver's head fell back immediately, shutting his eyes tight as he suppressed a moan and gripped the arms of the chair tight.

As she sucked the head of his cock, a hand wrapped around the upper part of his shaft, stroking it with precise movements to make his eyes fall back into his head, her warm tongue intensely working a dreamlike touch .

He made the effort to look down at her, knowing she always liked to see what things like this did to him. Blue eyes met blue eyes, an elated gaze passed between them as she slid up and down his length. She continued to stroke him with her left hand, slowly enough to make him make their shared look in exasperation.

Her lips departed from him with a pop and he returned his eyes to her equally curious and annoyed at her sudden stop. But soon, he forgot as she brought her other hand to play with his balls, feeling them twitch in her hands as she stroked his length at an energetic pace.

"Let go, baby," she told him, licking her lips as power overcame her. She loved watching him like this, cowering beneath her touch, pride filled her knowing she could bring such a man to the brink of despair.

Pressure built up inside him, the final straw being the gentle swirling of her thumb around the head. And he let go as she had told him, releasing that built up pressure onto her desk chair and her tongue soon made work to clear it up before she released him, totally spent.

He sat there, in her very own desk chair as he caught his breath. Felicity moved back to straddle his lap, still fully clothed, gently kissing and biting at his neck and shoulder blade.

Once he finally regained a hint of energy, he moved his arms from their tight grip on the arms of her chair and wrapped them around her waist, planning exactly how he would fuck her silly that night, payback for leaving him spent in the place he felt his strongest.

"Now, you owe me," she explained, moving away from his neck to look him dead straight in the eyes.

"I'd be happy to return the…"

"Nu-uh," she cut him off, lacing her fingers into his short hair, "I want my payment in secrets."

Oliver smirked at her, moving his hands to run a pattern up and down her spine under her top, "and what sort of secrets would you be interested in, Miss Smoak?"

"The kind that are about things you're hiding from me, got any of those?" she questioned, eyebrow raised.

Oliver sighed, knowing that no matter how much he wanted to protect her from the truth, she should know exactly who it was that he thought was trying to kill her, "can this wait until I put my pants back on?"

"I guess," Felicity replied, shifting off of Oliver's lap so he could rise to redress himself, slotting back into the chair, Felicity finding the same spot she had just been in.

"I'm surprised actually, that you didn't go for round two," he mocked, his hands massaging the upper part of her thighs he knew from experience could be hellishly sore after a workout.

"I honestly don't have the energy," she responded, melting at his touch until she realised exactly what was going on here, "don't try and change the subject, what are you hiding from me?"

"Felicity-"

"No, Oliver. Don't try and protect me, I'm the one whose life is at risk now, let me in," she cut him off, not letting him even contemplate his polite refusal before adding "please," in the softest and most desperate tone.

"Laurel, she came to me needing help with a case," he began, inevitably stalling for time, trying to find the right words to say here.

"Nothing ever good comes from conversations with Laurel, I thought we went over this," she was joking, he knew this, and normally that sort of comment was elicit some sort of smile from him. That's how she knew this was serious.

"When she was flicking in her folder for some information for me, I saw a case she had won… It was a guy, she said he had been moved from whatever prison he was in previously to Iron Heights in Starling, he appealed for a shorter sentence, he found God or something, I don't know. She didn't think she'd win the case but it was a favour for a friend apparently, and well… turns out Laurel's pretty damn good at her job 'cause he was released not long ago…"

"Oliver," Felicity whispered, cutting him off, their intimate seating totally forgotten in the look of their eyes, both brimming with tears as all of the pieces fit together, "what exactly is it you're trying to tell me?"

"Daniel Phillips… He's out of prison… and he's in Starling."

It was like somebody had knocked the air out of Felicity's lungs, she felt everything collapse on her, and everything became numb as she fought herself, an inner battle raging as she tried to take oxygen into her system. There were a lot of things that she needed in that moment, things like oxygen, answers, a hug even. But at the forefront of them all; full disclosure.

"He…" She took in a ragged, shaky breath, gripping tightly onto Oliver's shirt, "He swore to God…" She gulped down more air in a haze, "That he'd…" another precarious breath, "he'd… he'd kill…" a sob broke as she took in more air, "…kill me."

Then, with one final shabby breath, her vision blackened and she slipped from consciousness.

_Seven years earlier…_

"_You stupid bitch!" He shouted to her from the alternate side of her bedroom, "you stupid, careless, imbecilic bitch!" Each word cut like a knife to her heart, it was only moments ago that she had been fumbling for her keys as he placed loving kisses along her neck with her back pressed against the door, she should've known it was too good to be true, he had promised after the first two times that it would never happen again, but she should've seen through it, Daniel Phillips doesn't change, not for anyone._

"_I'm…" she stumbled on her words, slowly walking backwards from where she stood towards the door, if only she could open the door, she could make a run for it, lock herself in the bathroom, it wouldn't keep him for long, not while he was in this sort of mood, but Marvin would be home soon, she just had to stall until he came back, "…I'm sorry… It was an accident, I didn't mean to. Come on baby, you know I didn't mean to." _

_Daniel rubbed a hand over his chest, where Felicity had clumsily spilt her red wine, inevitably causing this rage. "You should be sorry, I'll make sure that you are," he stalked towards her as he spoke, backing her into the door, trapping her, she could feel the handle pressed into her back, it felt like freedom._

"_I am sorry, you know I am, so let's just go to bed, yeah?" she bargained, watching his eyes fill with relief as he realised she wasn't going anywhere, that she would stay with him. But he was wrong, the moment his back was turned, Felicity Smoak made her escape, throwing the door open with enough force to knock out an elephant as she skidded towards the bathroom at the end of the hall._

_She was only a meter away when he caught up with her, strong hands gripping the top of her arms, jerking her back so she came chest to chest with her capturer, "Please don't do this Daniel, you love me don't you?" He nodded weakly, his tight grip on her keeping the fake blonde firmly rooted in place, "if you love me then you wouldn't hurt me, prove to me that you do. Please, don't do this."_

_His right hand left her arm and she thought for a moment that it was over, but this was only the beginning, he wasted no time in cupping her cheek in his free hand, softly at first as if to comfort her, "it is because I love you that I must teach you how to behave, and how do we achieve that?" He asked her._

_She knew his answer, what he wanted to hear, this was the third time his rage had built up to more than just a slap or a punch, and each of the previous times he had asked her this question, used this excuse, but she was Felicity Smoak, she doesn't take any bullshit, "with respect?" _

"_With punishment," and with that his final words, he backhanded slapped her across the face, dragging her back into her room behind him. _

_He didn't listen as she yelled, he didn't react as she threw punches, he didn't look at her when he hiked her skirt above her waist and thrust deeply into her. _

_She struggled to breath, his weight atop her mixed with panic and fear were all the reason she needed for her lungs to struggle excepting the air it was offered. She whimpered with every deep thrust he made, still ranting and raving about the stupid spot of red wine she had spilt. She just lay there, on her bed, his broad frame above her, exhausted from fighting and convincing herself that this was just a faze, that most relationships had times like this, when the sex was so one-sided, the other party just lay there in agony._

_Blood trickled down her face, bruises begun to form under her skin as his grip on her tightened with each movement he made. It wasn't long before he bit into her neck, drawing blood which he lapped up swiftly. _

_It was one final thrust before they both came, Felicity switching her screams for shrieks, everything hurt, even her mind as she over-analysed the situation. He pulled out of her and left to clean himself up, satisfied with a good day's work. After the pain and fear, came the shame, the disappointment, the feel of his dirty hands all over her pale skin, now beginning to blotch with blue and yellow. _

_Sounds became more than just that. The bathroom door opening was like a crescendo of bullets in her mind, Daniel's slow footprints like landmine explosions around her, but when he leant down to her, now fully dressed and kissed her forehead as she wept, whispering "thank you, for your servitude" she felt like a full blown terrorist attack was going on in her very own brain._

_Felicity struggled to get to her feet, her legs giving out on her several times as she surveyed the damage and changed into something frumpier, to hide the reminders of him that she would carry for a week on her body, and forever in her mind. _

_Before collapsing in exhaustion, she threw things in a disgusted, angry, dirty rage, punching her mirror as the woman she saw in it mocked her gaunt face and sunset eyes, making the image of herself as broken as she felt. _

_She sobbed, unable to stop._

"Felicity?" A familiar voice pulled her back into the light, "Felicity, are you okay? Open your eyes, stay with me."

She did as she had been told, locking eyes with another blue set, "Oli… Oliver?"

"I'm here baby, I'm here," He comforted, letting her sob into his chest, holding her in place with strong arms. Felicity admired how the situation could be so different, Daniel was strong too, his embrace was unbreakable, but where his scared her, made her feel trapped, Oliver's only made her feel safe, feel loved.

"I still don't… I don't understand how…"

"How he could get into the Foundry?" Oliver finished for her, she nodded. "Someone must be working for him."

"Who?" Felicity asked, pulling herself from his chest long enough to see the concern and anger mixing in his azure eyes, "Laurel?"

"I don't know," he told her, holding on for dear life, unable to face even the thought of losing her, "but I promise you Felicity, I will find out."


	6. The Fight

**Enter Laurel, violence and a smut-less chapter, sorry not sorry.**

**And KINDLEFLAME5 – thanks for your review, I should probably tell you that a pity party is inevitable, that's kinda what this story is about, but the ass-kicking is coming, like… in this chapter. Patience, yeah? **

The next day rolled around quickly, a normally relaxing, workless, lazy Sunday. But today, Felicity and Oliver didn't spend the morning lying in the luxury of her bed, wrapped up in each other's limbs. Today, they headed to the Foundry earlier than they'd ever done before, the sole purpose of finding the low-life that was dying to see Felicity six foot under.

She walked down the stairs before Oliver did, reaching the bottom just as he began to walk down. Her heals clicked as she did, echoing in what she had expected to be an empty lair, she was wrong.

Looking up from her tablet as she hit the bottom of the staircase, she looked to her desk automatically, not finding it empty as she always did. A brunette hunched over the keyboard, typing frantically and sloppily, greeted her, only one of the three screens showing any colour.

"Laurel?" Felicity asked, staring daggers at the woman's back with the thought of the damage her long nails could be doing to her keyboard, "what are you doing?"

Laurel span around quickly on the chair, exiting from the open webpage as she did and slipping something into her pocket, "Oh, I… I was just…" She giggles, frantically, trying to discourage the blonde from the subject just as a large hand hit the bottom of her back.

Felicity tried to be okay with it, the sight of another woman sat at her desk, typing on her computer, she tried to convince herself that the screens didn't want it, this was forced upon them. But seeing someone – especially that someone being an ex of Oliver's – sat on her chair, around her computers, just made a hand clamp around her lungs. She felt like Laurel had invaded a very secret, very special part of her life.

"I was just running a background check on a client, no biggie," Laurel spoke as her laughter died down, "I hope that was okay…"

"That's fine, why wouldn't it be fine, it's not like I forbid people from touching my babies, it's fine," Felicity's mumble didn't sound convincing as she tried to peel her eyes from Laurel's frame on her chair, and failed.

But Oliver, good, kind, knowing Oliver understood exactly what was running through Felicity's mind, "Laurel," he spoke calmly, "get up."

Laurel did as Oliver asked her, quickly making excuses and leaving the Foundry promptly, leaving Felicity to stride over to her tech and ask the screens and keyboards and mice if they were okay, if she had violated them at all.

Oliver went to work on the salmon ladder, leaving his blonde haired IT expert to sit among her technical equipment, absentmindedly checking the search history on the web browser she opened. Laurel hadn't lied when she said she had been running information on a client, or who Felicity assumed was a client. But there was something else going on, she could feel it.

Oliver was only just beginning to sweat when she figured it out, "Oliver, come here a minute."

He dropped from the metal rung he was holding with a thud, landing in a crouch below. He made his way to Felicity promptly, putting a hand on the back of her chair, and another on her desk, leaving his distractingly close to her.

"Laurel wasn't just running a background check," she explained to him, opening up various windows to support her hypothesis.

"Okay, so what was she doing? Online shopping?" He joked, not understanding the various codes and patterns on the screen in front of him.

"Look," Felicity spoke, pointing up to a long line of code on the left hand screen, " she's downloaded all of the information from our sever to a USB device."

Those words made Oliver's spine snap upright, his hands leaning Felicity's personal space, "all of our online information? As in, the personal details that we store here too?"

She nodded gravely, "name, address, phone number, email, family members contact detail, medical history, qualifications, blood type, everything… she has it all." As she spoke, Felicity knocked each details off with a count on her fingers, leaving her sat looking at Oliver, eight fingers extended.

"Why would she want that?" Oliver asked the blonde, "This doesn't make much sense Felicity,"

But it did, it made perfect sense to Felicity, she had never believed a member of their crime-fighting team could be so two-faced, she trusted Roy, Diggle and Sara with her life. But Laurel was different, for starters she wasn't even a real member of the team yet.

"All this time we've been assuming that the backstabber was a regular member of team arrow," she whispered, more to herself than to him.

"-Don't call us that," Oliver cut off the beginning of what was heading for a monologue, sharply.

"But…" Felicity continued, ignoring him as she spoke under her breath, "it was Laurel this whole time,"

Oliver caught on quickly, the person who switched the arrows, she thought it was Laurel, "I refuse to believe that."

"Why?" Felicity asked as he moved away from her desk, back towards the training mats, "she has the access codes, and the evidence is here, she's the one helping Daniel!"

"But why?" Oliver shot back, "What reason could she possibly have?"

The blonde raised from her chair as she spoke, staying firmly planted behind her desk, "she worked with Daniel, she was his lawyer, we should have picked it up back then. I mean, come on… both Daniel and Laurel hate me, they're a murdering match made in heaven."

"She doesn't hate you, Felicity."

"Yes she does," she argued, "she still loves you, but…"

"…but I love you." Oliver finished, looking for signs of worry in Felicity's blue eyes.

"Exactly," she confirmed, "she switched the arrows for Daniel, so he could freak us out. Come to think of it, she tried to schedule lunch with you during the meeting we were attacked in, I obviously told her we would be in a meeting, so she knew that I wouldn't be at my desk. Daniel wants me dead, but not till I've suffered first. And now, she's supplied him with all of my personal information."

"No, I can't believe it," Oliver replied, "Laurel isn't a murderer, she wouldn't help Daniel kill you just because she's a little jealous."

"That might just be how he got her to listen, maybe he's paying her for her services. Supplying her with drugs on the down low or something like that."

"She's past all that now, Felicity," Oliver defended the brunette as Felicity listened on. She couldn't help but feel something coil in the pit of her stomach as she heard him defend his ex-girlfriend, but she promptly pushed the feelings aside, reminding herself that he only just said he loved her and not Laurel.

"How do you know she's over that?" The blonde asked, staring her boyfriend down from opposite sides of her desk.

"Because I know Laurel, I know she's over the worst, and I know she wouldn't help someone kill you. You're paranoid, this isn't right."

"You'd believe her over me?" Felicity asked, unbelieving that he'd even stop and talk about the situation, if it were Roy who she were calling out, Oliver would be dressed in green with an arrow to the kid's head by now.

"Me and Laurel have been through a lot together, losing Sara, Tommy's death, and on the Island, the thought of getting back home to her to apologise for what I did was all the reason I stayed alive so long," Oliver's voice had risen by the end of his explanation, a somewhat comforting sound to Felicity when she knew that he did feel pain and deceit, but right now, she wanted his angry, focussed and growly Arrow voice.

"And we haven't been to hell and back? I worry every night that I won't ever see you again, you've saved my life time and time again, yet all this time Digg was right. You may not love her anymore, but you still have a blind spot when it comes to her." As she spoke, Felicity wiped tears that were forming. Then, she walked straight past him to the box she kept her mask and bright pink nunchaku in, taking them both out before pulling the tie from her hair, letting the golden tresses fall in a way that was so alien to her. After that, she walked towards the medical table, taking off her glasses and picking up an oversized grey hoodie they kept in mass under the table for times when injury had radiated to their clothing, and she thanked every deity known to her that she had decided on leggings to wear under her oversized pink jumper. The final thing she picked up was Sara's voice disguiser, placing the device in its spot on her neck.

"I have to give her the benefit of the doubt, Felciity, after everything we've been through she deserves that," Oliver's raised voice carried through the room as the blonde slipped the grey hoodie on, then spying Sara's leather jacket and zipping that up over the two layers she already wore, her whole outfit now only black except for the grey of the hood.

"You may need to but I don't," she spoke, adding the final splash of colour, her pink mask, and slipping the nunchaku into the pocket of Sara's jacket.

"Where are you going?" Oliver asked her, tired out, "it's dangerous out there."

"I'm going to do what you don't have the guts to… I'm going to sort this out, once and for all," with that, she turns away, pulling the hood up over her head as she strides towards the vigilante exit, the only goodbye she spoke being, "don't follow me," as she exited, not bothering to look back at him as she did.

Felicity was thankful that no one had yet mentioned to Laurel that she had adopted an alter ego, it made what she was about to do so much more fun for her.

She hijacked Oliver's motorbike, weaving it through side roads in the early morning light. The sun was only just rising, leaving a golden hue to shine across Starling city, Felicity rode slowly, not legally in possession of a motorbike license, but she'd done this before – well on a moped anyway.

Once at Laurel's apartment block, she climbed the fire escape, hood up over her head and pink mask glowing in the semi-darkness of the early morning. It took some time for Felicity – now in full Pink Binary mode – to get to the window into Laurel's front room, where she correctly assumed to find her, careful of her footing on the metal rungs of the ladders.

When she peered into the slightly ajar window, she was met with a terrifying sight, for stood opposite the ever beautiful brunette Laurel Lance, was the tall, dark and handsome Daniel Phillips, just as intriguingly poised as the day Felicity first met him.

They spoke in hushed voices and Felicity struggled to hear them over the sound of the city waking up, but as with every argument, their voices got louder and clearer.

"Your task was simple!" Daniel shouted to Laurel, making her flinch with the sudden loudness.

She took a step back slowly before replying, very aware at what he was capable of, "I did exactly as you asked, I got the information."

"You got caught!"

"I covered for myself," Laurel bargained, "They won't catch on."

"They won't? Felicity's a genius, it was the main reason I was first attracted to her. First you let Oliver see my case file, now you get caught gaining intel, you've messed everything up!"

"Me?" Laurel screamed to him, "you told them there was a traitor within them, all that achieved was arising their suspicions, Oliver would've believed me if he wasn't already on guard!"

"I don't care what you have to do to fix this," Daniel replied to her, a calm and level-headed voice carrying out of the open window for Felicity to hear, she recognised the tone, it was an eerie and scary sort of calm, the kind he used as he told her off, almost patronising, "do it, whatever it takes. I don't care what you have to tell that no good boyfriend of hers, what lies you make up, what services you have to supply, do it… fix this."

Laurel's voice returned calm, "I don't know how," she spoke softly, taking a dangerous step towards the abuser, "I don't know how to fix this, they're really smart."

Daniel backhandedly slapped her immediately, no remorse shown on his face and the sight made Felicity feel sick, she had grown far to accustomed to that face, "so are you. Fix this."

The Pink Binary took that opportunity to make her entrance, the sight of any woman cowering under the height of Daniel Phillips bringing her to ad nauseam. She flung the window open, swinging a leg at a time over the frame until she was stood, mask on and hood up in Laurel's front room, face to face with the man that haunted her at night, a tearful Laurel on the floor between them. The Pink Binary flicked the voice disguiser on.

"Get out of here Laurel," she spoke, her original agenda forgotten, she didn't need to put the fear of God into her for Daniel's whereabouts, not when he was stood right in front of her.

She looked to him, memories flooding back, some good and many bad. Soft kisses in the morning, red wine with dinner, a backhanded slap, a passionate kiss, a black eye, his smile, his snarl, the feel of his body pressed against her, the weight of his abuse on her shoulders, cigarette burns on her hip, their first date, their first time, their last time. She had loved him, even when she had hated him, but in that moment, she put every good feeling aside like Sara had taught her, and focussed only on the multiple forms of hate she felt.

Laurel scurried off into the kitchen, Felicity imagined that she was calling Oliver, and part of her wished that she would. The Pink Binary couldn't handle this on her own, not when it was Felicity behind the mask, Felicity definitely couldn't handle this. But then again, she wanted more than anything to prove to Oliver that she could do this, with or without him.

"Who are you?" Daniel snarled at the pink-masked woman before him, clenching his fists as he spoke, dark eyes black in the early morning hue.

The Pink Binary took a moment to think about her response, she could just tell him her code name, she could reply with a punch, but neither felt right, she wanted him to pay for what he'd done, "I'm your worst nightmare," she tested the words on her tongue, the sound of them alien to her, yet they felt so good.

"My worst nightmare?" He asked mockingly, "for the past seven years I've had the same nightmare, not getting the chance to kill Felicity Megan Smoak."

Felicity may have laughed if the situation were different, he had absolutely no clue whatsoever of who was under the mask, "Then I guess I was right the first time."

"You're going to stop me from getting justice? I thought that was what you vigilantes were all about. And what's a vigilante without moral integrity? A murderer, a wronged individual, a saint within society? All of the above? Tell me, my worst nightmare, what is a vigilante without a mask?"

The Pink Binary wasn't in the mood to play his mind games, but she was relieved with the delay, she was now firmly at the conclusion that she couldn't do this alone. Daniel Phillips wouldn't stop until either she or he were dead, and no matter what he had done, she had loved him once, she couldn't kill him, she could barely bring herself to shout, so she answered his question, the same mock answer she had given Roy when he had asked her the same question, "A prisoner."

"Wrong," he spoke, crazed, "They're still a vigilante, the mask is just something you where to hide not who you are or what you do, it's not so you don't receive recognition or blame. A vigilante wears a mask not to hide their present, it's to hide their past. And so I ask you, what wronging have you suffered to make you so hell bent on justice for all?"

By now, the Pink Binary was beginning to evaporate behind the mask, the weak and fearful Felicity Smoak returning. And she was fearful, this man in front of her was merely a boy when he tore her world apart, made her suffer and cry until she was raw with emotion, he had shaped her, moulded her, made her weak and brittle, then let her crumble in his hands. Since then, he'd suffered many years in prison, hell bent on righting the wrong of her snitching, he was seven years ahead of the game. He had seven years of planning and plotting his revenge, he was a man now, a tougher, meaner, crueller man. And Felicity hadn't realised until now, just how much she was not over what happened.

But Felicity swallowed her fear, willing herself to be a stronger, less frightened part of herself, and the Pink Binary consumed her again. "The people of Starling city aren't strong enough to save themselves, they need someone else to do it for them, that's why I do this. I don't have anything to hide."

"Then why wear the mask?" He asked her, "if not to hide yourself."

The Pink Binary didn't hesitate with her answer as she once did, speaking louder and clearer than ever, "because glasses fall off."

The next thing she knew, she had reached into the jacket and pulled out the nunchaku, lowering her hand and dropping the dragon stick to fall perpendicular to the floor. Her right hand grasped the yang stick, knuckles turning white with the strength of her grip as the pink radiated around the room like her mask.

She began to spin the dragon stick in a vertical figure of eight, the brightness of the shaft distracting Daniel long enough for her to perform a reverse arm catch. She swung the stick down, the momentum flipping the dragon stick up behind her arm, and she caught it in her left hand from over her shoulder, returning to the figure eight motion as she flipped the nunchaku around and switched hands, now her right hand holding the yang stick once more.

All Daniel could do was watch, the constant momentum of the nunchaku warning off any attempt at attack he made. He wasn't stupid, as long as those bright pink sticks were flailing around, he was just a sitting duck, waiting to be hit. He considered running, knowing that she would follow but he would eventually out run her. But pride hit him hard, he wasn't going to give this masked woman the satisfaction of knowing he was scared, then again, he noticed that she hadn't struck yet, and so watching her ready herself became fascinating as he understood that if she truly wanted to use those on him, she would've by now.

The Pink Binary then did a straight back pass into her left hand, swinging the nunchaku behind her and into her waiting palm, then moving her left arm to between her legs, letting go of the dragon stick for her right hand to catch the yang.

She then spun her whole body 180° to the right, swinging the nunchaku with her perpendicular to the floor at head height, smacking Daniel around the right side of his face as she returned to her original position, hitting the same place he had slapped Laurel.

He got up quicker than the Pink Binary had expected, blood dripping from his cheek as she realised that to knock him out, she needed to aim higher.

She was continuing the momentum of her figure eight as Daniel lunged for her knees from two meters away, but she saw it coming. Turning her figure eight horizontal so it now resembled the number it was named after and stopping only to smack the dragon stick straight into his chin as he left the ground to tackle her. He flew across the room, crashing into Laurel's coffee table and smashing the wood to pieces, she then changed her overhand grip to underhand, wrapping the blood stained dragon stick around the back of her hand so she could reposition.

The Pink Binary then returned to a figure of eight, performing another reverse arm catch, not letting go of the yang stick this time so she held both ends either side of her shoulder, she then untwisted her arms, pulling them away from her body and around so she was holding the sticks in front of her horizontally, one head height, and the other parallel to her abdomen.

Daniel regained his stance of attack again in front of the Pink Binary as she began to regain the momentum of a figure eight, who hadn't yet gained a scratch nor moved from her place in front of Laurel's oversized window. But this time, Daniel was aware of what was going on, dodging her first strike to his forehead as he progressed towards her.

She changed her grip on the yang stick back to overhand using the same technique as before, striking again from the other side of her vertical figure of eight, he dodged it again, swooping backwards just in time.

He pounced on her, ignoring the pain of the nunchaku as it whipped across his back as he secured his legs around her hips, holding her to the floor. His hands came out to grasp her wrists, pinning those to the harsh carpet also, forbidding the Pink Binary from striking again.

"Neat trick," he complemented her, moving both her hands so he could secure them in one of his above her head. This reminded her of a time many years ago when the same position was accustomed, only this time she didn't scream and shout for someone to help her, now she only swallowed hard as his free hand came to rest between her eyes, grasping the fabric there and ripping it from her face as the tie on the back became lose.

But, before he could pull it fully away, his body crashed down onto her, a full weight atop of her own and she felt warm blood trickle down her chest where his head lay. At first, she thought it were hers, but as his grip loosened on her hands, she thrust his head up from her, looking at the blank stare of a dead man, a dead man with a green arrow firmly planted between his eyes, the exact spot where his hand had just been on her.

The weight was pulled from her immediately after and thrown to the side and soon, the cool blue eyes of the Arrow peered into her own, his callused fingers hid behind green leather as he tightened her mask back again, knowing her well enough to believe that she wouldn't want Laurel in the know of her own secret identity.

"I had that under control," the Pink Binary's disguised voice conveyed to the Green Arrow as Laurel Lance re-entered the room, eyes falling on the dead man thrown against her bathroom door.

The Arrow's own voice, disguised as well, replied to her, "I know you did." There was an underlying amount of respect within his words, and he helped her back onto her feet.

Laurel tore her eyes from the dead body to that of the pink masked woman in her front room, "who _are_ you?" she asked, not bitterly as expected, but filled with gratitude for stopping Daniel Phillips from going any further with her that night.

"The Pink Binary," was the reply Laurel received from the monotone voice of the disguised woman, "and _he_ abused me too."

Laurel nodded at her words, not paying attention to the Arrow who stood over the dead body, double checking that there really was no pulse, "Thank you," the lawyer spoke quietly, a small smile spreading over her perfect white teeth.

The Pink Binary made note that this was the first (and probably the last) moment the two women would share like this before replying, "you're welcome," and feeling a tremendous amount of pride in herself for what she had done, even if the Green Arrow had been the one to finish off the job.

The shrill sound of a phone ringing tore them from their moment, the noise coming directly from the dead body and the Arrow pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket immediately.

The Pink Binary turned to the occasional team Arrow member, "you got a tablet?"

Laurel ran for the kitchen, returning moments later with a screen and the female vigilante got to work using it to trace the phone call, typing on the screen in her first language; Binary.

"Pick it up," she instructed the green-clad man crouching on the blood stained floor, close to cracking a trace of the call.

The Green Arrow did as he was told, pressing the answer button and putting the device to his ear, on the other end, a scratchy voice spoke, unidentifiable to him, "Daniel?"

"No," the vigilante replied, voice being disguised in its usual manner, identifiable and familiar to those who had heard it before.

"Then who is this?" The voice asked from the other end, voice getting clearer as if he had just gained better signal.

The Green Arrow looked to the Pink Binary, who gave a curt nod to say she had a trace, also hitting record on the call and streaming all of the information straight into the Foundry for later.

"The Arrow," he spoke in reply, about to ask the same question to the man on the other end but cut off abruptly.

"Oliver?" The voice asked without thinking and in disbelief, voice clearer than ever before and suddenly the Green Arrow recognised the man on the other end.

"Tommy?" He asked, his question causing the caller to become quiet, inevitably ending the call.

But the lack of reply was all the answer Oliver Queen needed, it was true, it was Tommy. Somehow, he had survived, and he was working with Daniel for some unknown reason to his oldest friend. But the look on both the Green Arrow's and the Pink Binary's faces said it all; this was far from over.

**SO GUYS, please drop a review or two. Let me know what you thought and what you think should happen.**

**I hope y'all are okay with the Tommy's back situation, I have an explanation for it all, never fear.**

**Let's face it, you all love Tommy, and nobody wants him to be evil, I get it. I don't want him to be evil either, so hang in there 'cause all I not as it seems, alright?**

**So, what was the point of this author's note again? Oh right, I remember;**

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW.**

_**PLEASE! **_**It urges me to write faster and longer chapters when I know y'all are liking them.**

**And I hate criticism, but if you gotta give it, please do.**

**Oh and sorry, kindleflame5, emotions are coming! (Ass-kicking will follow!)**


	7. The Hunger

**My dear, beautiful readers,**

**SORRY FOR THE LONG AUTHORS NOTE, THE STORY WILL BE STRAIGHT AFTER SO DON'T GO ANYWHERE!**

**PLEASE READ IF YOU ARE A REVIEWER!**

**Thank you for all of your reviews, I will respond to many here,**

**WINTERRAIN36 -You are supposed to be confused about Laurel, but all will become clear in this chapter hopefully, let me know if that's not the case. Awesome costume suggestions, they will be taken into account and she was only in crap clothing 'cause she hadn't yet been assigned a costume – definitely wasn't my plan to keep her that way. After hearing your thoughts about the hood, I've gone off my idea of putting her in one, I'm rethinking that choice as I type to you. I didn't want her to kill Daniel, in fact I don't want her to kill, full stop. But her feelings towards that night will become apparent soon… Oh, and Laurel will literally be the LAST person I have know about her secret identity! Thank you so so so much for all your reviews and suggestions – I really appreciate them!**

**KINDLEFLAME5 – There 'ent no way in hell she's gunna be some weak-ass cry baby, she'll kick ass again (just not in this chapter, maybe the next...?) but her feelings will be explored too so I hope you don't mind.**

**03-K64 – thank you so much, it means the world to know you're enjoying it!**

**PALLY THE SECOND – I love bad-ass Felicity too so I'm really glad you agree!**

**NOW FOR THE STORY !**

* * *

><p>They don't speak as they make their way to the Foundry on separate motorbikes, nor do they talk when they get down there, changing from their disguises, they also don't communicate as Oliver takes a seat on the medical table and Felicity at her desk. In fact, they've been down there a good hour thinking alone before someone finally breaks the silence.<p>

It's Felicity, "I could have handled that, you know?" When she speaks, it comes out like she's ungrateful that he saved her, when in fact it's the opposite, but she really had wanted to prove herself that night, both to him and herself.

"I know you could have," he speaks back as quietly as her, "but I wanted you to know that you didn't have to."

That's all that is spoken for several minutes, a calm silence falling over the Foundry on what is now almost lunch time on a not-so-quiet Sunday.

In that time, Felicity relives what happened; the way Daniel's dead weight fell on her silky skin, the sight of the arrow in his forehead, and the feeling of both sickness and relief to know that he is no longer after her.

"I loved him," she speaks quietly, not looking to Oliver as the words left her mouth, "I loved him once."

"I know," he replied solemnly, letting emotions run high in their secret lair, where everything spoken was kept quiet.

"I think I only really stopped when I got to Starling city," she continued absentmindedly, "I hated him for what he did, and I've never stopped. But even when I knew he was abusing me, even after he raped me, a part of me still loved him, still belonged to him…" Felicity let the thought trail off, not having the right words to say any more.

Oliver sighed from his place behind her, three or four meters between them, "and I killed him."

"You saved me," she corrected calmly, not giving the oomph she usually did in times like this, "he needed to die, he never would've gave up, I was just saying that it hurt… to see him like that. I kept remembering him as this charming, intellectual heartbreaker, but that wasn't the real him, was it?"

Several emotions flooded Oliver, including a small amount of jealousy which he quickly put to the side. He felt guilt, not for killing Daniel, but for having Felicity not only there to see, but to catch the body, to be covered in his blood. Betrayal that Laurel had been working with Daniel, though he had a feeling there was more to that than what met the eye. He was also confused that he had heard Tommy on the phone, but again put that to the side, they could deal with that later, when she wasn't so vulnerable, so weak, so unlike everything he knew her to be, "that used to be the real him, Felicity. But people change, you and I know that better than anyone."

For the first time since they entered the Foundry, Felicity swung around on her chair, silvery blue eyes catching his more vivid shade, "I'm sorry for running off, I shouldn't have, I knew I wouldn't be able to cope."

Oliver shook his head likely, "don't be, I'm sorry for not believing you about Laurel."

"You have a past," Felicity spoke, getting up slowly from her chair and ambling towards Oliver, "I get it, she'll always be part of your life, just like all these years, Daniel was part of mine, even without me realising it." She sat down next to him on the medical table, only centimetres apart, a motion that was more for comfort than romance.

Oliver tilted his head to watch her lock her gaze on her feet, "I shouldn't have killed him, I should have let you be the one to do that, get some closure."

"I couldn't have, I don't want to kill anybody Oliver," the blonde admitted, moving her eyes to watch him watch her, blue meeting silver.

"I won't ever put you in the position for you to have to kill, I promise you that," when he spoke, a fire ignited in her eyes as she realised that this man before her, this green leather clad vigilante, would do anything for her, including kill when he hadn't in so long.

"I promised you the same thing… I didn't want you to have to kill again Oliver. But I got myself into trouble again, and you had no choice but to kill him."

Oliver moved the hand closest to Felicity from the edge of the metal table to cup her face, basking in the way she tilted her head into his touch, "Felicity, I would do anything for you, including kill."

A few silent moments passed between them, both enjoying the comfortable silence as Oliver kept hold of his beautiful girlfriend's cheek. Felicity was the one to break the hush, snapping her face away from his touch as she did, "I liked it, you know."

"Liked what?" Oliver asked her, a small smile playing on his face as he noticed the excited gleam in her eyes.

"Saving Laurel," she explained further, "when I got there, he had hit her, that's when I jumped in. I only really went to interrogate her about her involvement in all this, but then he was there, and it felt so good."

Oliver's smile widened at her confession, blue eyes gleaming with the same emotion as the blonde next to him, "it was supposed to be a surprise…" he spoke, trailing off as he finished with a groan.

"What was?" She pressed, inching closer to the vigilante with curiosity, "what was supposed to be a surprise?"

Oliver grumbles what Felicity thinks is something on the lines of giving up and he walks over to the cool glass case where he keeps his costume, he takes an envelope out from the bottom and strolls back over to Felicity, sitting back where he was and handing the brown card to her.

She opens it hesitantly, pulling a single sheet of paper from inside and looking down at the beauty before her, "Sara did the design," Oliver tells her, watching her look down at the page, "it should be here tomorrow."

Felicity wasn't listening, she was busy staring at the piece of paper in her hands. On it was a hand drawn woman, she was faceless and lacking in detail but that didn't matter, what really caught her eye was what the woman was wearing.

On her face, was a pink mask, one which Felicity automatically recognised as her own, and in her hands, was pink nunchaku. The silhouette had blonde flowing hair, no hood to cover the tresses but it was longer than her own, pink flowing from under the blonde from what the note next to it said were clip-in hair extensions, a small disguise from the blonde that was Felicity Smoak.

The woman in the drawing wore black pants, the note said that they were cotton, (something Felicity was very glad about, not caring to know what circulation-stopping leather would be like.) She also wore a top like the Black Canary, strapless and very good at drawing attention to a certain asset that only women vigilantes have possession of, but unlike the Canary's, this one was bright pink, like the mask and nunchaku.

Pink boots were drawn on her feet, lace up ones that came right up to her kneecaps and looked surprisingly comfortable. Then, to finish the look off, a jacket was on the woman, black leather with pink binary wrote into the fabric, from this small image Felicity couldn't make out what it wrote, but she didn't care, she just thought the whole thing was perfect for her.

"Everything pink on there is glow in the dark, Sara thought it may help to distract attention from killing you to watching you, although it won't be very helpful if you're trying to hide, and she's ordered some glow in the dark pink lipstick too," Oliver spoke, pointing at the pink top of the woman as he spoke. "Sara said the writing was the binary translation of some sort of rule thing you guys were talking about, she said you would know."

"The values of a vigilante, I remember," Felicity spoke quietly, eyes not able to tear themselves from the image before her, "this is really mine?"

Oliver could only nod, watching the beautiful woman before him stare intently at the drawing.

When she finally looked up to meet his eyes, she spoke again, "thank you, it's beautiful."

"Like you," Oliver replied almost immediately, both vigilantes cringing at how cheesy the line had been. Moments passed with them only looking at each other, and when Oliver couldn't keep the hundreds of thoughts in his head contained, he was the one to break the silence, "Can we talk about it?" He asked.

"About what?"

Oliver took a deep, shaky breath before continuing, "about what – who – I heard on the other end of that phone call."

"Oliver," Felicity tread the conversation carefully, putting the costume design on the space behind her, "Tommy's dead."

"I know you think I'm crazy…"

The blonde cut him off immediately, correcting his mistake, "I don't think you're crazy, I think you're confused and emotional."

"Even so," Oliver took the correction in his stride, continuing on with the previous topic, "I know what I heard."

"I can't be him, Oliver," Felicity responded sincerely, placing a hand on his shoulder in comfort. She knew what Tommy had meant to Oliver, they had been more than just best friends, before the island they were brothers, they were a family. Oliver had relied on his for far more than making sure he got home safe after drinking too much, or being his wing man when the girl he was chatting up had a friend.

"You traced the call didn't you?" He asked, "where did it go to?"

"Some private island," she spoke calmly, "a remote place off the coast of Italy."

Oliver thought it through for a moment, remembering back to when he was twelve. He and Tommy had walked into their father's having a conversation about islands, Malcom Merlyn had just brought one… off the coast of Italy.

"Was it called Strega Isola?" He asked the blonde next to him, the widening of her eyes giving him his answer, "Malcom Merlyn owns that island."

"What?" Felicity asked, lying in far too many unanswered questions, "So what we're saying here is Tommy's alive after a building crashed down on top of him, he was working with my abusive ex-boyfriend who was trying to kill me and Laurel was going behind our backs to help them, which we're not sure she did willingly or if she was forced to do so. Is that all?"

"We also know that Malcom Merlyn's alive, if Tommy was on his island then I wouldn't be surprised if he's in on this," Oliver spoke bluntly as Felicity rose from her place on the medical table to pace in front of the Arrow.

"Oh, my, God," she spoke between breaths, exasperated with the amount of confusion she was feeling, "Why don't we bring your mother back from the dead and arrange a nice 'should be but isn't' dead party for you all!"

Oliver didn't take her joke as that, despite the tone she spoke being as completely serious as his reply, "if Tommy's alive as I wouldn't be completely shocked if it turns out my mother is too."

"No way," Felicity spoke, stopping her pacing to turn to Oliver and point a finger at him, "I cried at her funeral, I refuse to acknowledge that she could be alive."

"You cried at her funeral?" Oliver asked, jumping up from the table to lean against it.

Felicity dropped the finger pointed at him and began her uneasy response, "yeah I did, I mean the tears weren't for her they were for you, but tears still technically left my eyes during the aftermath of her death."

They took a moment to look between one another, a silent question being asked as they shared gaze, '_what do we do now?'_

Oliver was the one to reply aloud, conveying the answer they were both contemplating, "I think we should go have a conversation with Laurel, see just how much she knows."

"Agreed," Felicity spoke, "and I want to know if she stabbed us in the back on her own accord, or whether Daniel was pulling her strings like a puppet."

Laurel's apartment is quiet when she lets Oliver and Felicity in through the front door, fake smiles in place all round. They follow her into the kitchen, taking a seat on the opposite side of the breakfast bar to her, the smell of cleaning supplies fills the air, from the obvious scrubbing the brunette had been doing previous to their arrival.

Silence radiates through the apartment, putting everyone on edge for the conversation that's about to arise. And in the end, it is Oliver's merciless voice that breaks the hush, "I take it the police removed the body."

Laurel nodded to him in response, eyes unmoving from the counter between them as she twiddles her thumbs just for a distraction.

"What did you tell them?" He asks in return, making her look up at him through overly mascaraed eyelashes.

A ghost of a smile makes its way onto her lips and she speaks quietly, like the victim to Oliver's protectiveness could hear her every word, "that he broke in, wanted to know what was valuable and slapped me when I wouldn't tell him. Then I said that the Green Arrow came in and I hid in here and rang them, I told them I didn't see anything else until they came knocking on my door and I left here to answer. I didn't tell them about the woman, I gather she wanted her identity to be kept a secret so it was safer not to. Do you know who she is? She was pretty damn kick-ass."

Felicity felt some pride in hearing Laurel of all people speak such out of place words about her, and she decided that to keep up appearances, she'd have to play along, "what woman?"

Oliver was the one to answer her, keeping up the secret as she did, "blonde hair, pink mask, she was the one I was telling you about, remember? Who was helping me with bringing down Daniel Phillips."

"And it was Daniel Phillips that you killed?" Felicity played dumb, asking Oliver the question.

"Not before this other girl could get in a few good hits, it was pretty epic," Laurel answered instead, leaving a proud smile to swipe over Oliver's face.

Felicity nodded in approval, "she sounds bad-ass. She got a name?"

"Pink Binary, apparently she's a genius too." Oliver answered, directing it more to Laurel than the blonde next to him.

"Awesome name," Felicity sounded out, then turning her attention to the brunette sat over the counter to her. "But Laurel, we didn't come here to exchange information on this new vigilante, we wanted to know why Daniel Phillips was in your apartment."

"I told you," Laurel answered, shifting her weight nervously on her chair, "he knew me from my being his lawyer, he was looking for something to steal and he came here for anything valuable he could get his hands on."

Felicity and Oliver shared a look, but Felicity was the one to act upon it, "we know you've been working with him, that you switched the arrows in the lair and hacked into our system to get personal information for him. We just want to know why."

Laurel began to chew nervously on her bottom lip, hands still doing anything they could to remain busy, but eventually she realised that she had to talk, to tell the truth. "He told me he was an old friend of Felicity's, that he needed to send something to her desk while she wasn't there, so I found out when you'd both be in a meeting for him, I thought it was going to be a nice surprise, I didn't think he was going to shoot an arrow in there… I guess I should've realised when he made me switch the arrows, but again I thought it wasn't anything bad, I thought he really was an old friend and I wanted to help him to show you both that I'm happy that you're happy.

"After I found out what he did, I called him out on it and he hit me, told me I had to continue to do what he said or he'd kill me, so I did. He wanted your personal information, so I told him where I could get it from, he wanted to know where you lived and I told him, I told him everything I already knew about Felicity, everything he didn't already know. He's been doing surveillance on you for months now, finding out where you live, where you eat, and what you spend your evenings doing. I was scared and I'm sorry."

By the end of her explanation, she was breaking down into tears, yet neither vigilante made a move to comfort her. But Felicity did feel something; she knew what it was like to be a victim to Daniel's rage, and so, with that in mind, she spoke to the tearful brunette, "did he do anything other than hit you?" she stepped on the subject lightly, "he didn't take it any further did he?"

"Like what?" she asked in reply through sobs, wiping her eyes with the back of her jumper.

"Like, did he rape you?" Oliver corrected, knowing that Felicity wouldn't be able to ask, too many memories flooding back in that moment.

Laurel shook her head and despite Felicity not being her biggest fan, she couldn't help but feel relieved. Then Felicity thought it through, Laurel had been his lawyer in the case of getting his sentence for abuse and rape shorter, these tasks that he had inflicted on her and only her, so when she asked her next question, her voice was shallow, "did you know what he had been charged for?"

"Of course," Laurel replied, her eyes almost dry now, "abuse and rape in a relationship.

Felicity nodded, already knowing the answer to that question but needing it to lead into the following, "do you know who he was in a relationship with?"

"No," the brunette replied, "we had to refer to her a 'woman x' for the sake of the trial, why? Do I know her?"

Oliver and Felicity both came out with the reply of "No," simultaneously, then leading onto Felicity continuing, "I just wondered, that's all."

She felt Oliver's hand squeeze her thigh in comfort and felt a tremendous amount of relief at the touch. She felt even more grateful when Oliver changed the subject slightly, deferring it from her past to an element of his, "Laurel, do you know if Daniel was working with anybody?"

"Not personally," she replied, "he was always on the phone to someone but he never said who, it was the same person you picked up to yesterday, he only had one contact on his phone. I looked on it once when he left it here, they were put under the letter 'M' and I wrote the number down," she took a break to rummage through the draw to her left, pulling out a sticky note with a group of numbers on, "here," she spoke, handing the paper to Felicity. "Did you say something about Tommy to him yesterday?"

Oliver's head snapped up, forgetting that Laurel had been present for that conversation, "yes… the man on the other end sounding frighteningly alike Tommy."

"You don't…" Laurel trailed her thought off for a moment, deeming it silly, but with one look at Oliver she knew she had to ask, "you don't think it was him do you?"

"No," Oliver replied sharply, "A whole building fell on him Laurel, not to mention that it was on fire, he's dead. Nothing could bring him back."

"Not even Mirakuru?" She asked.

Oliver thought for a moment, leaving his seat, "Not even Mirakuru. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to go."

When they got back to the Foundry, it was just as quiet as when they had left. They hadn't yet called Diggle, Roy or Sara to tell them about Daniel's death, so it was just another Sunday to them, they wouldn't be here in until that evening, ready for patrolling the city like they usually did. Felicity knew that they should call them, tell them exactly what's happened and everything new they know, their Tommy theory included, but right now, she had something else on her mind.

She was tapping her fingernails along the glass of her desk, not bothering to sit at the chair there. Oliver was the opposite side of the medical table to her, fiddling with some arrows as he broke the silence, "how do you feel?" He asked her, turning his attention from the arrows to the blonde.

"Confused, overwhelmed, anxious, thrilled, upset, tired…" she trailed off, only turning to meet his gaze as she finished her list, "so many complex feelings."

"How can I help?" Oliver asked, dropping the arrow in his hand and making his way to his side of the medical table.

Felicity leisurely made her way towards her side, until only the metal table separated them, "make me feel something less complex, something simple."

"Like what?" he asked teasingly, picking up on her sultry tone of voice.

She cocked her head to the side, staring at him intently, "like lust…" she suggested, "or need?" she implied, then she finally settled on a correct feeling, one she desired to feel more than anything else, _"Like hunger."_

Before she could take another breath, Oliver was around her side of the table, picking up her legs and wrapping them around his waist as he sat her on the cool metal. She stops thinking of the past and can only think of the present.

His mouth suddenly takes her without hesitation, kissing her in the shadows of the lair. Everything around her feel trivial, the cool of the metal under her, the ache in her arm from early that morning, the paper of her costume design hitting the floor, all meaningless against the feel of Oliver's hands running wild along each crevice of her body, his erection pounding into her thigh, his rough lips engulfing hers with every movement.

He is hungry for her, she can feel it in the way he moves.

She is hungry for him, she can feel it pooling in the pit of her stomach.

He doesn't ask permission, wait for her to let his tongue roam into her mouth, he takes, pulling her lips apart with the momentum of his tongue piercing through her, now fighting in a battle for dominance with hers, she eventually gives in to him.

Calloused fingers slip into her golden tresses, forcing her head back to present the skin of her neck to him, a throbbing vein running down so prominent against the white of her. He takes this opportunity to sink his mouth to that spot, sucking at the vein as it pulsed faster at his touch.

His hands release themselves from her hair as he knows she'll behave, still granting him undying access to her throat, neck and shoulder as he pulls her jacket down her arms to release such skin. Hands delving down to pull at her top, only breaking his attention from her neck long enough to remove the garment.

Her legs are still wrapped around him, pulling him in close until she can feel his hunger pulse against her own as she knows she's wet for him. She jolts forward into him, a dangerous growl leaving his lips as she realises what she's done.

This isn't her Oliver.

This is the Green Arrow.

She made him resort to this animalistic urge with only her words.

She didn't care.

With a gasp, he hauls her off of the table, twisting her so she's bent against the cool metal instead, the cold on her stomach the perfect contrast to the heat she feels inside. Her toes barely touch the ground but she doesn't care, she knows that even in the predator state of mind, he'll catch her before she falls.

He gives no warning, in fact she's not even sure when he had dropped his pants and boxers before delving inside of her. But that's where he is, strong and hard and fierce. All she can think about is how much more she wants, how much faster she wants it and how many times she can before she'll faint.

He takes her, there is no two ways about it. She doesn't get a say, she doesn't meet his thrusts, he's pounding into her so hard she can't remember her own name, but she remembers his, and takes every opportunity to moan or scream or sigh his name, letting the word echo throughout wherever it is they are – she can't remember.

They fall into a state of feeling, nothing else matters except the way they're fitting together as he thrusts into her from behind, feeling how tight and wet she is and how big and hard he is.

His hands are on her hips, leaving bruises as he uses his grip to thrust her into him as he does the same, taking control of the entire situation, not leaving her with even the mind capacity to think. He is touching her core, her body writhing beneath him in utter bliss and she can do nothing but scream every syllable of his name like it's his own melody, urging him on as she falls over the edge into ecstasy. Then he is gone from behind her.

She thinks it is over.

She thinks he's done.

She doesn't know if she can take any more.

But next thing she's aware of, she's lying down on the cool metal of the table, his bright blue eyes staring intensely at her as he repeats the notion again, just as fast, just as fierce and just as sensational, watching her spill his name from her pink lips mindlessly as a whisper, unable to form anything more coherent.

And he takes her a third time, just as wild and reckless, just as brutal, just as extraordinary.

And again, this time carrying her to the cot and taking his time to pleasure her with his tongue, just as merciless and breath-taking.

And then for a fifth time, expecting nothing in return as he gives her a fifth and final orgasm – something she was yet to experience and he was yet to give. Not as ruthless, not as ferocious as the other times, yet still just as astonishing.

And then she lays in his arms, worries and complex feelings forgotten as she feels an overwhelming sense of pleasure as aftershocks relish her body as his hands do, tracing the pattern where her bruising will show. She feels nothing but concern as to whether she'll be able to stand when the others show up that evening for arrow duties.


End file.
